Team Psycho
by microzombie
Summary: What if Anko were Team Seven's sensei? How would this affect the world? Lets find out. NaruTema
1. Team Seven? Meet Anko

**NEW STORY. REVIEW PLEASE. ILL CONTINUE IT NO MATTER WHAT SO DON'T WORRY. ILL STILL BE UPDATING THE OTHER TWO. THE FMA FIC WILL BE UPDATED AS WELL, BUT YOU MUST BE PATIENT.**

**WELCOME TO ALL THE NEW READERS. FEEL FREE TO PM ME WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE, ILL DO MY BEST TO RESPOND TO YOU. **

**AS ALWAYS**

**ENJOY : D**

**(oh and I don't own Naruto.)**

"Team Seven will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno." Iruka announced he smiled at the three students, but his face melted into one of sympathy when their jounin sensei entered the room…hanging from the ceiling. The gravity defying trench coat stayed exactly where it was, and she smiled demonically at her new chew toys.

"Team Seven, meet me on the roof, in thirty seconds or you fail your genin test." Anko Mitarashi turned around and walked out. The three genin practically tripped over each other to get out of the room and up the stairs to the roof. The fan ponytail haired woman was standing there tapping here foot.

"Good, two seconds to spare, now go sit over on the steps so we can get introductions out of the way, and I can't start tortu…err…training you." Team Seven's jounin sensei grinned and leaned against the railing of the building.

"Um, sensei, can you go first, so we know how to do it?" Sakura raised her hand

"Ok then…my name is Anko Mitarashi. I like dango. I don't like traitors. My dream is to kill a certain man, now you go bubblegum." Sakura looked like she was about to protest at the name, but Anko glared daggers at her and she stood up.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like," she stopped and looked at Sasuke ", my dream is to be with," she giggled and looked at Sasuke.

"What don't you like?" Anko raised an eyebrow.

"NARUTO!" the pink haired girl yelled to the heavens

"Alrighty…blondie, go."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen, and Sakura! I don't like the time it takes for ramen to cook. My dream is to become Hokage!"

Anko raised an eyebrow and said

"Might want to get another dream kid." Naruto looked crestfallen and looked at his sensei with sad eyes.

"You don't think I can do it?" His voice sounded completely depressed. Seeing his sadness Anko was actually quick to fix that problem.

"I never said that. Look, why do you want to be Hokage?"

"So everyone in the village will acknowledge me and stop looking at me like I'm some kind of monster!" Naruto shouted. That one caught Anko by surprise. Her and this kid weren't so different in terms of childhoods.

"Blondie, we're talking later. Stay after, once your teammates are gone." Anko looked into his eyes and dared him to protest, then she glared ice sickles at Sakura when she snickered at Naruto.

She slowly looked to Sasuke "Alright, emo, you're the last one. Go ahead."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like many things, and I dislike a lot of things. I have no dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to rebuild my clan, and kill a certain someone."

_Ok so…a fangirl, an emo avenger, and blonde hyperactive knucklehead. I've always liked a challenge._ Anko thought.

"Ok, meet me at Training Ground Forty-Four tomorrow at noon. Bring a week's worth of clothes and weapons, but nothing else. Emo, Bubblegum, I'll see ya later. Blondie follow me." She turned and jumped off the roof. She was surprised when Naruto followed her and kept his stride. Inwardly she smiled. Maybe there was more to these kids than met the eye.

_Hokage's Monument. 12:00 P.M._

A bag of warm dango sat between Naruto and Anko. Naruto seemed a bit weirded out by his new sensei, but hey, if the pale pedophile at taken her up here the first day, she'd have brought a rape whistle.

"Ok, Blondie, run that dream by me one more time." Anko looked at one of her new students with a dango stick in her hand.

"It's my dream to become Hokage so everyone in the village will have to acknowledge me and respect me!" Naruto shouted out. Anko winced, but decided she kind of liked the little knucklehead.

"Why do you need the entire village's approval?" Anko looked at Naruto quizzically. That was a question Naruto hadn't been expecting.

"Well, if I'm Hokage they'll have to stop looking at me like I'm a monster." Naruto died down a bit.

"Kid, I'm going to tell you something really personal right now. Repeat this conversation and I hang you upside down naked from the Yondaime's nose." Anko threatened. Naruto gulped and motioned for her to continue. Anko took a deep breath and began.

"When I was around your age the snake sannin, Orochimaru, was my sensei," Naruto didn't seem surprised so she continued ",when he left the village I followed him because, after my parents were killed in the Third Great Shinobi War, he was kind of like a father to me. But after a few months, he betrayed me. He betrayed me in the worst way possible and left me to die." Anko stopped for a second.

"When I got back to Konoha people treated me like they treat you now. Hell, people still treat me badly. But I discovered something very important." Anko looked to Naruto who was looking at her expectantly.

"I found out that as long as the people who are precious to you are alright, and are happy, then you shouldn't give a damn what anybody thinks." Anko finished

",But I don't have any friends!" Naruto protested barely holding back tears.

"I can name four right now." Naruto looked at his sensei disbelievingly. To prove her point she raised a closed fist.

"One: Old Man Hokage. Two: The Ichirakus. Three: Iruka Umino. Four: Myself." She held up four fingers.

"Five: The ANBU who watch your back have come to like you to kid." A feminine voice said behind him. The two shinobi turned to see a silver haired jounin and a long purple haired ANBU in a cat mask standing behind them.

"6: Kakashi Hatake." The masked jounin smiled behind his mask signified by the fact that his eye closed. Naruto looked at the three adults around him and smiled. Then the genin looked at his female sensei.

"Did you say that you're my friend Anko-sensei?" He sounded perplexed

"Duh, you're one of my students Blondie, and you're not so bad when you're not shouting in my ear." Anko grinned. The blond looked around again and realizing he had an appointment with Iruka to celebrate his graduation, he left the three adults sitting on the Sondaime's head. Yugao and Kakashi looked at Anko, and even with their masks on the jounin sensei could tell they were smirking. She flipped them the bird and said

"I'm his sensei; it's my job to make sure the brat is ready for a battle."

"By buying dango, going someplace secluded, and opening your past like a book for him to read?" Yugao raised an eyebrow.

"What was I supposed to do? Plop him down in the middle of Dangoya and tell my story there? I don't know about you, but I'm not having any type of serious conversation there." Anko deadpanned.

"That's true. But seriously Anko, that was a nice thing just now." Yugao smiled behind the porcelain mask.

"Just doing my job." Anko insisted.

"Sure you were. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go help an old woman with her groceries." Kakashi disappeared and left the two kunoichi alone.

"So what about the other two?" Yugao was curious about her friend's genin squad.

"Well one is a fangirl, and the other is the last Uchiha. Naruto was the most pressing, but also the easiest. I'll talk to them individually tomorrow when we head into the Forest of Death."

The last four words shocked the ANBU.

"You're taking three fresh genin into Training Ground Forty-Four?" Yugao sounded a bit incredulous

"I'll never be more than one hundred feet away. They'll never be in danger, but they'll believe that they are. I'll only step in if one of them is about to die." Anko said confidently. She was harsh, and trained hard, but she wouldn't put their lives in danger for the sake of their genin test.

_The Next Day._

_Training Ground Forty-Four, 12:00 PM._

"How ya doing maggots?" Anko grinned as she walked up. The three genin greeted her, and asked what they were doing.

"We're doing you genin test, I said that yesterday." Anko deadpanned.

"But I thought we already took our genin test?" Sakura was confused.

"That was kind just a way to find out who was _best_ suited to become genin. Only nine out of thirty make it to genin. Now then want to hear about the test or not." The three teenagers nodded and Anko began.

"Your test is to survive in the Forest of Death for a week. You'll receive no help from me. In fact, I'll be making your life hell. I'll try and steal your food, burn your clothes, and sic animals on you. If you three survive in there for the whole time, you're worthy of being Team Anko." Anko smiled at the incredulous faces.

"Wait we didn't bring any food." Sakura suddenly looked panicked.

"I guess you'll have to find some. There are berries and animals in there. The berries are good. But some are poisonous and will make your insides implode. _Have fun!_" And their sensei was gone. The three genin muttered to themselves and turned to walk inside the Forest of Death.

_8 Hours Later_

"Alright I'll take the first watch. Dobe, you're on the second. Sakura, you're last." Sasuke announced. Sakura tapped the Uchiha on the shoulder.

"Um, what if Anko-sensei uses a transformation jutsu." Sakura looked worried. The other two genin looked at her and nodded.

"We'll have a password." Sasuke thought for a moment. "Alright, when I say Yellow, you respond with Flash." The others nodded and they each went to their own areas. They'd decided about half an hour into the exercise that they'd have to use teamwork or they'd die. This happened after a giant centipede nearly carried away Naruto. Naruto and Sakura laid down against a tree, and Sasuke climbed above them and began scanning for any threats.

_3 Hours Later_

Naruto was dreaming about centipedes and ramen when he felt someone kick him. He was up and glared at Sasuke.

"Get up, dobe, it's your shift on watch." Sasuke laid down, while Naruto began climbing the tree. Muttering about arrogant bastards and giant trees on top of a toxic waste dump, he sat on a branch. Then he felt cold steel at his neck.

"Quiet, Blondie, don't say a word." Anko smirked. She couldn't believe how easily the kid had been caught.

"Boom." Naruto whispered.

"Huh?" And then Anko heard an explosion and the branch they were on starting cracking. She grinned and kicked Naruto off before jumping away herself. _Not that bad of a trap_ Anko thought as she melted into the darkness. She only turned to make sure Naruto was ok before moving away. Sasuke and Sakura watch Naruto fall after the explosion of a paper bomb woke them. He landed on his feet and looked to his teammates.

"Anko-sensei was up there. She snuck up on me and put a kunai to my neck so I had to blow the paper bomb." Naruto explained

"Alright, since we're all three thoroughly awake, let's get going. We need water and food, but that will have to wait until morning. Let's just find another place to lay up for the night." Sasuke turned and started running.

_The next morning._

"Sakura, dobe, I'm going to get some water, I'll be right back." Sasuke whispered to his teammates inside the large tree. They nodded and went back to planning out their next moves. The Uchiha got up and began walking as quietly as possible to the stream nearby. He broke out of a treeline and walked over to the water. Sasuke leaned down in the grass to get a drink of water from the stream. A hand grabbed his shoulder and he looked up and behind to see a grinning Anko.

"A wild Uchiha had appeared!" the snake mistress. Sasuke reacted on instinct and kicked backwards, only to see his sensei do a backflip and stand around five feet away with her hands on her hips. She was still grinning.

"Gonna have to do better than that Emo."

Sasuke growled in response to the nickname and started forming hand signs. Anko raised an eyebrow and started moving._ A fire style jutsu, huh?_ Sasuke took a deep breath and yelled out

"Fire Style, Fireball Jutsu!" A medium sized ball of flame came from his mouth and flew towards Anko. It impacted and Sasuke actually looked a little scared of what he might have just done. Until her body dissolved into mud. Then he flew into the air. He looked down to see snakes coiled around him, and then he smacked the ground. He cursed and lapsed into unconsciousness. His two teammates, in response to hearing his shout, ran into the clearing in time to see him hit. Sakura panicked and ran towards Sasuke, not realizing that Anko was still right there. On the outside her sensei grinned some more, but on inside she face palmed. There goes the fan girl coming out. She disabled the pink haired girl even more effortlessly than she had the Uchiha. Then Naruto formed a single hand sign.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He shouted around twenty Narutos appeared in puffs of smoke. Eighteen of them charged her. While she was busy with them, two more grabbed his teammates and retreated as quickly as possible. The original Naruto had gone back to the tree to get their gear. Anko dispelled the last clone and looked around. She smirked and nodded in satisfaction when she noticed that all three genin were gone. Then she disappeared with a flicker, and the only signs that anyone had been there were the crater where Sasuke impacted, and the scorch of Sasuke's fire jutsu.

_Five Days Later_

The three battered genin stumbled into the tower with Anko walking behind them making sure they didn't die standing up. She grinned as she looked at their tattered clothing and scratched up faces. _That's going to be a very pretty scar. _Anko thought looking at a four inch long cut across Naruto's face. That had happened as a result of a run in with a bear the size of a truck. She looked to the kunoichi of the group. She was wearing one of Sasuke's outfits since her clothing had disintegrated after two days in the forest. Lastly was the Uchiha. Anko was very glad with how he'd turned out, after a little talk Anko had with him on the third night.

_FLASHBACK_

_Sasuke felt cold steel against his throat. _

_"Hi Sasuke, me and you are gonna have a talk. No fighting or torture, just a talk." His sensei whispered in his ear._

_"Whatever." He got up and followed his sensei. He stood next to where she was leaning on a tree. _

_"Give up on killing Itachi." Anko ordered simply. At his brother's name Sasuke's eyes started blazing._

_"Never! That man killed my whole clan!" He raised his voice. _

_"Sasuke, I've been betrayed to. By a man who was family to me. I want to kill him more than almost anything in the world. Want to know why I haven't gone after him?" Anko raised an eyebrow. Sasuke just stared defiantly at her._

_"Because I find protecting the ones I have left more important." _

_Sasuke blinked. He'd never thought of that. _

_"Sasuke, I don't have many people in the world. I'd die to protect them. Naruto is just the same, and he views you as a friend and rival. Sakura…well…um…" Anko searched for something good to say for the fan girl._

_"What I'm trying to say here, is that you aren't alone, so don't act like you are. When the time comes to deal with Itachi, I'll be therewith you, and so will Naruto, and Sakura. We're your friends. Don't forget that. Now go back, before captain stamina, and pinkie notice you're gone." Sasuke just walked away and thought about his sensei's words._

_FLASHBACK END_

After that the Uchiha had started warming up to his teammates. He yet to crack a joke, but he'd smiled once or twice, and had even shared his dinner with Sakura.

Once Team Seven was inside Anko's home in the Forest of Death they collapsed. Anko laughed and pulled them over to the couch and chairs. She left them there and let the teenagers doze. Then she went over and wrote a report on the exercise.

_Report for "Team Seven" _

_Evaluation: Massive success. _

_All three genin managed to put their differences aside and work as a team. They even gave me a run for my money a couple times with some traps they set up. Individual reports are found below this._

_Naruto Uzumaki: Skilled in traps, ninjutsu, and taijutsu. Able to come up with plans spontaneously and in advance. Recommend command training. This genin shows great promise._

_Sasuke Uchiha: Skilled in all ninja arts except genjutsu. Once again shows great promise. _

_Sakura Haruno: Not skilled in any ninja art, but shows great potential with her wonderful chakra control. Recommend genjutsu and medic-nin training._

_As an additional note Uchiha and Uzumaki both show interest in kenjutsu. I have little experience here, so I request permission to bring in a person I know. Her file is unavailable to me, but you know her as Cat. _

_This team has the potential to become the greatest of their class if I may say so. I officially pass Team Seven to genin. Will report to Hokage's Office tomorrow for first mission._

_Signed, Anko Mitarashi, Jounin Sensei, Team Seven._

Then Anko opened a window and tied the message to a carrier bird's leg. She let it go and it flew off in the direction of the Hokage's tower. Then she herself went and sat in a chair, where she rested, waiting for her students to awaken. After around an hour they did, only to find their sensei sleeping. They got up and prepared to leave, when Anko opened one eye and smiled.

"Dinner anybody? My treat." Her three students agreed in their personal ways. Naruto shouted out his approval, Sakura mumbled ok, and Sasuke just grunted in his customary fashion. Anko got up and the four shinobi were soon sitting in the Konoha BBQ restaurant, enjoying each other's company. Naruto told everyone stories of his favorite pranks, and Anko told her students about some of her favorite missions. The only dark spot in the night was when the manager came over and stared at Naruto. The shinobi looked back at him, and he felt a glare coming from their sensei.

"Is there a problem?" Anko growled. The man looked at her in fear, before pointing to Naruto.

"We don't serve his kind here…" he stuttered. Anko leaned back and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Oh, really? Maybe if the restaurant got a new manager you would." Anko said in a sing-song voice.

"Why would the restaurant need a new manager?" The man looked perplexed.

"Well, if the current manager were to die, you'd have to get a new one right." Anko smiled sweetly, while twirling a kunai on her finger. The manager of the restaurant paled and, telling them to enjoy their dinner, high tailed it away to safer ground. Anko looked back at her shocked students and grinned at Naruto, who looked thankful.

"Thanks, Anko-sensei." The Kyuubi jinchurikii thrust his fist out. Anko hit it with her own fist, and smiled.

"No probs, Blondie." Not long after the three genin thanked their sensei and left for their respective homes. Anko got up and went back to her apartment, thinking about Naruto's reaction to her defending him.

Anko suspected that she knew exactly what Naruto felt. She herself had problems with people. Very few people knew that her favorite color was blue not blood red, or that she liked dogs nearly as much as snakes. She realized that she didn't know that much about her students either. As she get ready for bed, Anko decided that between their missions tomorrow she was going to talk to every one of her students and find out about what they wanted to do as a ninja.

**I APPRECIATE ANY FEEDBACK! PLEASE REVIEW THIS, AND TELL ME WHETHER YOU'D LIKE IT TO BE UPDATED AS QUICKLY AS THE OTHERS.**


	2. Mission to the Land of the Sea

**OK, SO EVERYONE IS CLEAR, SASUKE IS STILL GOING AFTER ITACHI, BUT ANKO TALKING TO HIM JUST CONVINCED HIM TO BE A TEAM PLAYER.**

**Reviews are appreciated.**

**DAMMIT NO I DONT OWN NARUTO, WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS!**

**As always Enjoy : D**

_8:00 AM, Hokage's Tower._

The three genin and their jounin-sensei entered the Sondaime's office, and stood at attention waiting for him to say something.

"Good morning." He puffed on his pipe.

"Good Morning Hokage-sama/ Hey Old Man." Was heard from the genin squad, Sakura and Sasuke looked shocked at Anko's and Naruto's blatant disrespect for Hiruzen Sarutobi. But even more shocked when the Hokage just continued as if it hadn't happened.

"Alright, Team Seven…" he started looking through the different D-Ranks on his desk.

"Uh, Old Man?" Anko interrupted.

"Yes, what is it Anko," He raised an eyebrow "no I won't be giving you a C-Rank right off the bat."

"That's not it. Can I request we change the squad name to Team Anko?" Anko grinned, and to the Hokage's surprise, so did her students.

"I can't they're not chunin yet." The Hokage explained.

"Aw, come one Old Man, I'll show how I get paperwork done so fast." Anko offered

"Deal! Here, go grab, Tora, he's escaped again."

"Alright. The secret is this," Anko formed a single handsign "Shadow Clone Jutsu." Another Anko appeared and waved at the Hokage, before dispelling, when the team left. The Hokage was left speechless. When the team got outside they laughed when they heard the Sondaime scream out

"HOW COULD I NOT THINK OF THAT!" as well as around a dozen puffs of smoke inside his office.

_15 Minutes Later._

Naruto dragged a cat by its tail into the room where Iruka, the Hokage, and a fat woman were standing. The cat was screeching and clawing at the genin, but Naruto just heaved it at the fat woman, who caught it, only to discover that a chakra weight was on its collar. Both were jerked to the floor, where the fat woman fell on the poor cat.

"Ok, Old Man, that's thirty D-Ranks. Can we have a C-Rank now?" Anko deadpanned with her hands on her hips.

"Anko, that's impossible! You did thirty D-Ranks in one day?" Iruka stammered.

"It's called the Shadow Clone Jutsu, Iruka, and my pal Naruto knows it." Anko grinned evilly at the chunin who looked at the blonde genin and shook his head. He'd seen the kid make two thousand shadow clones, he didn't doubt Anko.

"Umm…ok then…a C-Rank it is…"The Hokage shuffled through the stack of C-Rank mission files.

"Ok we have an escort to the Land of Waves, a caravan going to the Land of the Sea, and protecting the Fire daimyo's son on a trip to the Land of the Sea."

"I'm not some lame escort to the Land of the Waves, and I don't want to babysit some spoiled brat. Ok caravan duty, how does that sound to you guys?" Anko turned to her three genin who shrugged as if to say "_We don't care as long as we get a C-Rank_."

"Alright Old Man we'll take the caravan to the Land of the Sea." Anko picked up the scroll and started reading

"Oh! Gold caravan! Maybe they'll tip us with a couple bars, eh?" Anko smirked at her team. Naruto grinned, which unnerved the chunin and the Hokage with how similar it was to Anko's, and said

"If they don't we can always take our own tip. One or two bars won't be missed."

Anko laughed but Sakura punched Naruto,

"Don't even joke about that!" she shouted at the pooling blood puddle that used to be Naruto's nose.

"Ok, the caravan is going to be on a road about three miles from here, we'll leave at ten o'clock and link up with them here." Anko pointed to a crossroad about a mile from the Land of Fire's border. The three genin nodded and headed to pack their things. As a result of the time they'd spent with Anko all three got serious about their shinobi work and instead of their own outfits they each wore a black flak vest over a black body suit and ninja sandals. For her part she was wearing a standard jounin outfit. Anko looked approvingly towards her students and led the way east to link up with caravan.

_10 Minutes Later East of Konoha with the Gold Caravan._

Bento looked around and gripped his katana at the front of the four hand pulled wagons. He was frustrated with the caravan master who had just told him that he had hired shinobi to watch the caravan. As a samurai he hated shinobi. They didn't have a code, they just did what they needed to do to win. Him and the nine other samurai had argued against hiring a squad of shinobi, but the caravan master, a man named Daimaru, had insisted. And now he sensed their presence. He held up a hand signaling a halt.

"Alright, come on out." He shouted. The samurai saw four blurs and three people in black as well as one in a dark green vest and black body suit crouching on a branch on front of the column. All of their faces were blank.

"You guys the gold caravan we're supposed to guard?" The one is dark green asked. Daimaru came forward.

"Yes, so you must be the Konoha ninja I hired right?"

"Yeah, Team Anko at your service. Anko Mitarashi, squad leader. Blondie is Naruto, Emo is Sasuke, and Bubblegum is Sakura." She indicated each of her students.

"You named your team after yourself? Typical shinobi arrogance." A samurai nearby muttered. He suddenly found that the dark haired boy was sitting in a tree next to him.

"If you have an issue with our team you can say it to our faces, not mutter it to yourself." Sasuke stated in monotone

"Fine, then I will. I don't like shinobi, you're arrogant, and have no honor!" the samurai, named Daisuke, spat at Sasuke. Now the other shinobi walked over.

"Ok number one, we're not arrogant. We're just confident in our abilities. Number two, there is no honor in a battle. We fight to win, if you don't like it, you can go whine to someone else." The blonde spoke this time. Daisuke was angry now.

"What abilities, you're teenagers! We samurai train for years to become skilled! You're just arrogant and stupid enough to think you are a qualified fighter!" then he found himself on his knees with his arm twisted behind his head. A foot was on his other hand, preventing him from going for his katana. He looked backward to see the squad leader staring at him.

"I'd rather you not insult my students. Understand?" When he didn't answer she pulled his arm back some more. Daisuke felt agony in his shoulder joint

"I asked if you understand!" he nodded frantically and he was released. The pink haired girl spoke for the first time.

"Who's Daimaru?"

An older man raised his hand. Anko walked over.

"You ready to get moving?" she asked actually rather pleasantly. Daimaru, convinced his new guards were top notch, smiled nodded and waved his hand in a forward motion. The caravan rolled on, with one man holding his shoulder. The shinobi disappeared but, every once in a while someone caught sight of one of them in a tree nearby.

_Same Time with Team Anko_

"Samurai sure are rude, aren't they?" Sakura commented over the radio.

"Nah, they're just jealous of my devilish good looks." Naruto joked back.

"There's that and the fact that shinobi are anathema to them, because we are their exact opposite," Anko had gone into sensei mode ", they prefer straight up fights, and strength, we use the shadows, and stealth. They like honor, we kill people in their sleep, or blow them up from a mile away." Her three students thought about that.

"So if we use stealth we can beat a samurai easily?" Sasuke questioned.

"Yeah, but if you get in a straight up fight, they'll kick your ass, so avoid that. One shinobi can take on one samurai in a straight up fight, but samurai like to travel in groups of around a dozen. Since ninja use four man squads, we have to rely on stealth when fighting them." Anko lectured. The students listened intently soaking up their sensei's knowledge.

"So basically they have a stick up their ass, but if they hit you with that stick you're screwed." Naruto summed up the lesson.

"Pretty much." Anko laughed as she went back into big sister mode.

_9:00 P.M. Border of the Land of Fire. _

Daimaru signaled a stop, and the caravan began setting up the camp for that night. Soon he felt a tap on his shoulder. He started and whirled to see a grinning shinobi there. It was the squad leader.

"Hiya. We stopping for the night?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, Mitarashi-san, we are. Would you like to sleep in the camp? We have extra sleeping bags."

"Thanks for the offer, but we prefer to sleep out of sight. In trees and the like." Anko smiled at the man's expression.

"You sleep in trees? What about fires and things, don't you have to stay warm?" the caravan master was incredulous.

"Daimaru-san, we're all trained to resist torture. We can deal with a bit of cold." The woman grinned and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Daimaru shook his head. He couldn't believe that children were trained to resist torture, let alone kill without hesitation. He'd hardly believed they were shinobi at all when he'd first seen them. He then became aware of Bento standing next to him. The samurai seemed to read his mind.

"Yes, those children are ninja. Yes, those four could slaughter all of the civilians here effortlessly, but they won't. If nothing else Konoha shinobi try to uphold some type of peace and balance. All of those shinobi will die to protect you." Bento informed the caravan master.

"I thought you didn't like shinobi. Why do you speak like you're best friends?" Daimaru raised an eyebrow.

"I hate shinobi. But they are opponents that I respect. If you underestimate a shinobi when you are fighting, you'll find your throat cut wide open before you know what happened." And with that leader of the samurai turned and walked away, leaving Daimaru thinking.

_The Next Day, noon. In the Land of Tea._

The shinobi had decided to walk with the caravan today to ward off bandits before they attacked. They walked in an arrowhead formation at the front of the column, while the samurai took the flanks and rear. The caravan walked in silence until the shinobi got bored.

"Hey Anko-sensei, what's the difference between a samurai and a cockroach?" Naruto raised his voice so it would carry on the wind.

"There's a difference?" Anko gave him a curious look that all of her students laughed at.

"Ok, Blondie try this one on for size? What do you call the Raikage in the Land of Water?"

"Uh…stupid?"

"Electrocution." The students laughed and Anko grinned when she spotted the samurai chafing at the unprofessional way the shinobi were acting. They went on cracking jokes, and making fun of the samurai, until they reached the coast of the Land of Tea. They were walking on a road. To their right was forest, to their left was ocean. The shinobi were still laughing it up at the samurai's expense when Anko abruptly stopped laughing. She was standing next to the cliff and was staring at the islands of the Land of the Sea. Flashes of Orochimaru went through her head, and her curse mark suddenly started to burn. She fell to her knees and her students rushed over. He teeth clenched in pain, and the hand not gripping her curse mark was clenched hard enough that blood could be seen coming from where her nails were digging into her skin. She shuddered as she felt hands on both of her shoulders and Sakura crouched in front of her. She turned to her right and left to see Sasuke and Naruto on either side of her, each gripping her shoulder to steady her. She turned back and Sakura's mouth started moving.

"Sensei, are you ok?" the pink haired kunoichi sounded very worried for her sensei. Anko took several deep breaths, gulped, and spoke.

"Yeah, I'm fine bubblegum, thanks for asking. Since when are you so worried about people Emo? And get your hand off me you perverted blonde." She grinned at her students who smiled back. They had, by now, realized that a nickname from Anko wasn't an insult it was her way of saying _"You're mine, and no one's taking you away," _and their psychotic sensei had rapidly grown on them with her wicked sense of humor, and, as they found out, _very_ protective nature. She patted her genin on their heads, and got up with Naruto's help. The entire caravan was staring at her. The leader of the samurai stepped forward.

"What was that Mitarashi-san?" He seemed to be accusing of something.

"None of your business." Anko growled and stalked away.

"If you're a liability I need to know." Bento shouted after her. Her team stepped forward as one,

"If she says it's now of your business, it's none of your business. Drop it." Sasuke snarled. The samurai looked like he was going to continue arguing, but the three shinobi walked away after their sensei.

_In The Land of the Sea_.

Anko received the paperwork from the caravan master saying they'd gotten there ok, and left the office. She turned to see her genin staring out at the ocean.

"So that's the Land of the Sea?" Naruto questioned. Anko just nodded.

"Maybe I'll come for a vacation sometime." Naruto commented drily. All four Konoha-nin turned away and began walking back towards the Land of Fire.

**_-BOOM-_**

All four shinobi had kunai in their hands and stared out at where a cargo ship was under attack. The team looked at Anko who simply said

"Let's go." And all four ninja sprinted towards the boat. They didn't worry about a boat they simply ran out onto the water, with chakra supporting their feet. Anko reflect that she was glad that'd she'd taught them this now.

_FLASHBACK_

_Anko walked out of the tree line, where the caravan was resting, and over to her three students walking up and down trees. _

_"Ok boys and girl, that's enough, next up is water walking." Anko grinned at their excitement. She walked over to a large pond and walked out onto it, her hands in her pockets. _

_"Ok, do the same thing as tree climbing, and come out here." All three genin did, before losing their balance and falling over. They gave their sensei bored expressions when their heads popped up. _

_"Don't look at me, it ain't my fault you guys can't walk on water." Anko laughed then went into sensei mode._

_"Ok, the concept of water walking is the same as tree climbing. Only it's a lot more difficult because of the fact that you have to constantly adjust your chakra to keep yourself from falling in. Keep an even spread like you do when you're tree climbing and you'll lose your balance and fall, like before." Then she walked back onto dry land, and unsurprisingly, Sakura got it after a couple tries. Sasuke and Naruto kept at it and found some water to practice on, every time the caravan stopped. The next person to get it was Naruto, and not long after him came Sasuke. Anko congratulated her students, and explained to them that water walking usually took much longer to learn. Then they bedded down for the night, and prepared for the final leg of the trip in the morning_

_FLASHBACK END_

She was surprised at how quickly they'd been able to gain enough mastery of water walking that they could now sprint and jump without worry.

In front of them the ship was still burning, and three figures could be seen on board. They appeared to be moving some boxes around, either that, or dumping them off. One of them pointed at the four ninja, and a figure that looked a bit, strange, dove off the ship.

"Incoming! Keep your guard up!" Anko shouted to her genin. They nodded and kept sprinting towards the ship. They had spread out a little bit into an arrowhead. Anko at the front, Naruto behind her to the left, and Sasuke and Sakura, to her right.

As for Anko the curse mark was still bothering her. She was a very annoyed that something like this had happened, she had wanted to get away from what was causing this thing to go nuts. Usually on a certain person did that, and if he was around…She didn't want her genin going up against the Orochimaru's cronies, let alone the man himself.

If she were alone it'd be different, but now three of her friends were in danger, and Anko couldn't stand it. Three bandits were no problem, but the snake sannin was here somewhere, so it was possible that these three were shinobi themselves.

All of this was running through her head as she lead the way towards the stricken ship. Then a splash of water made her turn. Naruto had disappeared. She shouted out a string of obscenities, as she turned to her other students.

"Keep going for them, but don't engage until I'm back." She pointed to the ship, and then let the chakra in her feet dissipate, and she was under water. Looking around she saw nothing. Swimming over to where Naruto had been standing she looked around. When she looked down she spotted the blonde ninja, and something was holding him. _What the hell is that thing? _She swam down as fast as she could, and grabbed the dragon-like person, and got a kick to the stomach for her trouble. She hadn't known whether or not this thing was an enemy, but now it was confirmed. It had turned on her and Anko could see it was a girl. She pushed Naruto towards his sensei, and swam away, off in the direction of an island, that Anko couldn't make out through the water. Anko couldn't stay any longer as the air in her lungs was burning, but she could have sworn she seen that girl somewhere before. The jounin shrugged it off, and broke the surface. Catching her breath, she noticed the two other genin, simply circling the ship. The two bandits on board had stopped working, and instead were watching and waiting for the Konoha-nin to attack. Anko formed a clone and had it carry Naruto back to Mother Island in the Land of the Sea. She hated to lose a squad member so fast, but the blonde was knocked out from lack of oxygen. The jounin began sprinting to Sakura and Sasuke.

When she met up with them, they stopped and turned to her. Anko looked at the two bandits on the boat, and was a little hesitant to attack them with genin, since they knew nothing about the two men. So Anko compromised.

"Ok, look, I'll go in first, Sasuke make your way around to the other side, Sakura, you're with me, but don't attack unless you're sure you have an opening. If we find out that either of these guys are ninja, I want you two to fall back. I'll cover you, and follow after you're out of the combat area. Understood?" Anko gave out the orders. The genin nodded. When Anko called them by their real names, it meant she was serious.

After doing that Anko turned and began running towards the ship. Both men jumped off, and to Anko's dismay one began going after Sasuke. Two men with unknown abilities could be handled by a jounin, but if these two turned out to be ninja, Sasuke wouldn't have a chance. She trusted her team, but they weren't ready for battles with shinobi. Her fears were confirmed when the man she was facing used a water style jutsu. She turned to see Sakura stepping back, but not running. The pink haired girl look to the Uchiha, who was busy in a battle of his own. The man he was fighting was using water style as well.

Anko knew they were in trouble now. She used fire and wind style. Both of which were pretty useless against water style. Fire was useless for obvious reasons, and wind style because of the fact that water style was mostly long range, where as wind was short ranged. She shook her head. They couldn't win this battle, while they were on the water.

"Sasuke, Sakura, fall back!" Anko shouted at the top of the lungs. Sakura nodded and began sprinting back to Mother Island. But Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Team Anko's sensei jumped into the air but still couldn't see Sasuke. She shivered and dove underwater where there was _still_ no sign of Sasuke. Anko broke the surface and began sprinting away from the two missing-nin, who didn't chase her. Their job was to rob the boat, not tangle with Konoha-nin

Once she was on dry land, she looked to where Naruto was groggily sitting up with Sakura's help. Sasuke wasn't here as she had been hoping. Sakura noticed this to.

"Sensei, where's Sasuke."

Anko shook her head.

"I don't know Sakura, I think those missing-nin captured him." And jumped to stop the pink haired kunoichi from going back out into the ocean.

"Dammit, Sakura, they were water style users. We have no chance on the ocean. I know exactly where they're going to go, so don't freak out. If they have Sasuke we're getting him back."

Yeah, Anko knew exactly where those two would be going. On the horizon she saw an island that looked like a pincushion had grown out of the ocean. Demon Island. The jounin turned away and picked up Naruto, who couldn't walk.

"I'm fine, Anko-sensei, let me walk." The blonde protested.

"No, Naruto, you're exhausted, so I'm carrying you, get over it." Anko snapped. Then Team Anko walked off in the direction of the town they had left several minutes earlier.

_Mother Island 1:00 PM_

Team Anko were met with familiar faces at the gates to the village. Several of the caravaners and one samurai were there to greet them. The samurai looked like he had something to say, while the caravaners were just staring at them sympathetically.

"Don't want to hear it. I have a hostage rescue to coordinate." Anko kept walking. Sakura glared at the gathering and dared them to follow. They actually shivered under the pink haired kunoichi's gaze. Before long they were in a hotel, and Anko released a bird through a window. Then she when and sat in front of her genin. Naruto was lying on the couch resting, while Sakura looked angry.

"Ok, look Sakura. I know where these guys went, and where I'm going to go, to get Sasuke back. You're staying here with Naruto." The genin started to protest, but Anko silenced both of them.

"Look guys, I trust you, and I don't doubt that you could take on any bandit, and any genin, but these people are jounin at least. I sent for some back up by messenger bird, and I don't doubt that back up is on the way. If I'm right Orochimaru is involved so ANBU will be showing up. Just tell them that I went to Demon Island."

"Sensei, wait, how do you know so much about this place," Naruto sounded worried "and what was wrong with you earlier? I saw you grab that mark on your shoulder, and you seemed like you were almost having a seizure." Anko sighed. She knew this was coming, and had prepared for it.

"Alright, guys, as your team leader I guess you deserve to know…" And Anko went to tell the story of how she abandoned Orochimaru, and how she came to have the curse mark. By the time it was over Naruto was trembling. At first Anko thought he was afraid of something, but then she looked in his eyes. She saw rage, utter and complete rage. The type of rage that motivated someone to kill.

"Naruto, why are you so angry?" Anko was curious.

"Because that snake hurt someone that I care about. He hurt you badly. And he'll die for it." Naruto's voice sounded menacing. Anko was going to nip that in the bud.

"Naruto, I can protect myself, I don't need you to do that for me." Anko scolded.

"Anko-sensei, you, Sasuke, and, Sakura, are some of the few who have ever cared about me. I can count the number of people who are my friends on two hands. You are the closest thing I have to an older sister. The Old Man is the closest thing I have to a dad, I won't _ever_ let someone I care about get hurt. And if they do, I'll deal with the person who did it, personally. Sorry Anko-sensei, but this is one thing, I'm not giving up."

Anko was taken aback. She was his sensei, and his friend for sure, but she hadn't known that Naruto viewed her as family. As an older sister. He sounded as if he was really going to try and kill Orochimaru. Like it was his quest to do so.

"Why do you view me like that?"

"Well, not even the Old Man protected me from people. He couldn't or else there would have been trouble with the villagers. And the ANBU couldn't always be around, and when they were they just made sure I was alright before leaving, they had other jobs, so they couldn't just hang out. Even though Cat said they liked me." Naruto's voice was quiet. Anko was actually speechless. She'd never had family. And he viewed her as a sister. Anko actually kind of liked it.

"Well, um, ok…As long as you know this doesn't affect our professional relationship."

Naruto grinned.

"I said I view you as an older sister, not my girlfriend, now go save that brooding bastard."

Anko laughed, while Sakura looked shocked at Naruto's thought process.

"Alright, when the ANBU show up, send them over to Demon Island. See ya later." Anko jumped out of the window and headed for the water.

**Everyone who doesn't review owes me chocolate chip pancakes. **


	3. Suna and Konoha

**New chapter. Couple more today if I have the time.**

**I don't own Naruto**

**As always**

**Enjoy : D**

_With Anko_

Anko was sprinting across the water towards Demon Island. The island was basically an outcropping of rocks sticking out of the ocean. The jounin knew that Naruto and Sakura would have much rather come along with her, and it wasn't that she didn't trust them, but they were out of their league here. Sasuke had been the most skilled of all three, and he was captured easily. Anko stepped onto the rocks and continued running, only pausing to look at an arch that seemed familiar, but she shrugged it off and continued on. Before long she saw tracks that led to a tunnel which headed underground. Anko drew a kunai and began making her way down slowly. She was eager to get Sasuke back, but Sasuke wasn't going anywhere if Anko died.

_With Sakura and Naruto_

"No, Naruto, you aren't going after her!" Sakura snapped. The blonde had tried to leave twice now.

"I'm not leaving Anko-sensei out there alone!" Naruto fired back

"She won't be alone for long. Like she said reinforcements are on their way, and they'll be at least jounin."

Naruto grumbled, but went back to the couch. Sakura was blocking his only way out, and he didn't want to hurt her. Naruto just muttered to himself, but he took some solace that jounin were on their way to help Anko.

_With Team Baki nearing the inn._

"Why are we going out of our way to help some Konoha-nin?" Kankuro grumbled. Temari rolled her eyes as she had to explain it to the puppet master for the third time.

"Because we're in an alliance with Konoha, and we're the closest to them." Baki explained.

"Who is going to help me feel alive?" Gaara mumbled. Baki shivered, but answered the jinchurikii.

"Some of Orochimaru's henchmen. Apparently a Konoha genin squad was sent on a C-Rank and it turned into this. We're going to rendezvous with two of the genin, and they're going to give us the full situation."

"Alright. At least it'll give us some extra firepower on our squad." Kankuro shrugged. The four Suna-nin walked towards the inn that was their rendezvous point.

Temari was a bit on guard for a trap, and her eyes were scanning. The Suna-kunoichi heard a shrill whistle. She looked toward the sound and saw a boy in a black flak vest, body suit, and Konoha bandanna. He walked over to them.

"Are you guys looking for some Konoha-nin?"

"Yes, we're your reinforcements. We were told to meet two genin. Where is your partner?"

"Upstairs. Room 205." And the boy exploded in a puff of smoke. _Shadow clone eh?_ Baki waved his team forward and they climbed the steps to the second floor.

"201, 202, 203, 204, 205…" Kankuro put his hand on the door knob and stepped in. He felt a knife to his neck, he slowly looked to the left, and saw the same blonde haired kid. When he saw the Suna-nin he put away the kunai and knocked twice on a wall. A pink haired girl came from another room.

"Sorry about that." Naruto apologized.

"You're a might jumpy aren't ya." Kankuro needled the genin. To his surprise the boy scratched the back of his head and grinned.

"Yeah, but where Orochimaru is concerned you can never be too careful."

Though they didn't let it show, Baki, and Temari were bit impressed. The kids were on their toes.

"Ok then. Now to business. Where is your jounin-sensei?" Baki asked

"Anko-sensei is on Demon Island. One of our teammates was captured, and she's attempting a rescue." Sakura explained. Baki shook his head.

"Alright, so where is this Demon Island?"

"You can't miss it. It's basically a big pincushion sticking out of the ocean." Naruto informed the jounin.

"Alright. Are you coming with us or not?" Baki raised an eyebrow.

"Of course." Naruto grinned.

"Naruto! We were told to stay here."

"No, we were told to wait for the reinforcements to arrive and tell them Anko-sensei was on Demon Island. We've done that, so we need further orders. Let's go get them." Naruto clapped the kunoichi on the shoulder and walked out of the room. Temari and Kankuro restrained themselves from laughing and followed him. They had both decided they kind of liked Naruto. Baki shook his head again and walked out, followed by Gaara. Sakura was conflicted, but curiosity and not wanting to be outdone beat better judgment. She ran out and caught up with her teammate.

_Demon Island_

Anko's curse mark was starting to bother her more and more as she went deeper into the facility. Anko didn't know how, but she seemed to know her way around this place. The jounin entered a large room, with a smattering of large water tanks, and her head started to throb. Anko grabbed the left side of her head, and she almost blacked out.

_Twelve Years Earlier_

_Anko flinched as the glass shattered on the floor, but leant down to start picking up the larger pieces. Orochimaru entered behind her and eyed her. The snake had shown her one of his latest experiments, and she seemed a bit disturbed, which meant she had outlived her usefulness. Oh, well. She would at least be useful as a test subject._

_"Anko-chan, when you finish cleaning that up come up to the surface. I have something I have a surprise for you." Orochimaru's smooth voice ordered his student._

_"Ok, Orochimaru-sensei." The twelve year old girl began finishing up with sweeping the glass, and followed her sensei above ground, and to a small hut. _

_"Step inside, Anko-chan, your surprise is inside." Orochimaru smiled. The eager girl threw open the doors and ran inside, but found the hut empty. _

_"I don't understand Orochimaru-sensei." Anko was disappointed._

_"Oh, silly me, it's over here." Anko looked expectantly at Orochimaru in time to see his head fly at her and his teeth pierce her shoulder. Her eyes widened as she felt venom entering her veins. Her father figure's head retracted and the girl's body began burning with the most intense and excruciating pain she'd ever felt. Anko grabbed her shoulder where Orochimaru had bitten her. She felt a three soft and velvety tomoe there, and she fell to her knees and then to the ground. The girl had kept her mouth closed until now, but now she cried out from the pain. Anko looked up to see the doors to the shed closing and a lock slide into place. Black began encroaching on her vision and she blacked out. _

_Anko woke to find strange black marks across one half of her body. She got up and for some reason decided to punch the door, which splintered under her fist. Anko smiled a little bit, and took off sprinting into the forest. Orochimaru may have used her, but now it was going to come back and bite him._

_Present Day_

Anko's eyes widened as the gaps in her memory were filled in, and then she grinned. She had always told everyone that she left Orochimaru, but her memories that were that he had abandoned her. But she had left by choice, and it made her happy. Happy enough that when the two shinobi from before came in she just licked her kunai in anticipation. She formed several hand signs and breathed in deep before shouting out

"Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!" A flame in the form of a dragon flew from Anko's mouth when she exhaled. One of the enemy shinobi countered with a water wall. Anko went through some more hand signs, and shouted out

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" She exhaled and a large ball of flame formed in front of her mouth and flew at her enemies. One of them snickered and formed another water wall. Behind the fireball Anko went through more hand signs. A blade of wind formed next to her hand, and she grinned at the missing-nin's face when she flew through the steam toward his face. Blood spattered Anko and the man fell. The other backed up and broke one of the water tanks, and shouted out

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" only to hear

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Jutsu." And a dragon of rock slammed into the dragon of water. The mess turned to mud, but the earth dragon stayed relatively intact. It turned toward the remaining missing-nin, who dodged the dragon, only find himself face to face with a Konoha symbol. He received a kick to the chest, and flew backwards. The missing-nin looked up to see a Konoha-nin in a bandanna and clad in black, running toward him with a kunai in hand. He prepared to feel the cold metal enter his chest, but instead he felt a fist hit his face, and a kunai hit each hand. He cried out in pain, and looked up to see the blonde standing there with his arms crossed.

"So, why don't you tell us where Sasuke is?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. The missing-nin smiled

"Why should I? You'll kill me either way."

"Because if you don't I'm going to hand you over to Anko-sensei, and she won't be as nice as I am."

At the name "Anko" the missing-nin paled.

"A-Anko Mitarashi?"

"Duh…" the blonde sneered. Anko walked up from where she had been talking to Baki, and punched Naruto in the back of the head.

"Owww! What was that for Anko-sensei?" the blonde complained.

"Disobeying my orders."

"I wasn't disobeying my orders; I just fulfilled my obligation to direct the reinforcements. I didn't have any other orders, so I came to get more." Naruto smiled, but flinched when Anko raised a hand. He waited for the inevitable punch, but was surprised when he felt a hand on top of his head. He opened his eyes to see Anko grinning.

"Thanks for coming, Blondie. Nice loophole, but ever do it again, and I kick your ass." Anko ruffled his hair. Naruto smiled and walked over to where Temari, Kankuro, and Sakura were standing around talking.

"So, we can either do this the easy way or the fun way. Take your pick. Where's Sasuke?"

The missing-nin broke, just from Anko's reputation.

"2 floors down, and he's in the farthest cell." The terrified missing-nin sputtered.

"Is Orochimaru here, or nearby?"

"Orochimaru-sama isn't in the Land of the Sea at the moment."

"Good boy. Buh bye now." And Anko slit the man's throat. She had kept up her end of the deal. He died quickly. Anko returned back to the other shinobi. Baki noticed the blood in her hands and acted quickly

"_Stop, don't come any closer!_" the Suna jounin hissed. Anko stopped in her tracks and Baki walked over to Kankuro.

"Kankuro get Gaara out of here." Baki subtly pointed to Anko and Naruto's hands. Both had blood on them, and Kankuro nodded urgently.

"Gaara, me and you are heading back to the surface." Kankuro yelled to his younger brother.

"There's no one to kill up there." Gaara objected,

"There isn't anyone down here either Gaara. If you head up you might catch some enemy reinforcements." Baki appeased Gaara.

"Fine." And the Ichibi jinchurikii turned and stalked up the stairs, Kankuro followed his brother. Baki sighed in relief, and walked over to Anko. She gave a shrill whistle and her team walked over, followed by Temari.

"Ok, so I guess we can do formal introductions now, I'm Baki, the jounin sensei of this squad. This is Temari. The other two are Kankuro and Gaara. Gaara was the red head, and Kankuro was the one with the bandages on his back." Baki bowed. Temari just leaned on her fan.

"Good to meet ya. The hyperactive blonde is Naruto. Pinkie is Sakura. Our final member who got captured during our initial battle is Sasuke. I'm Anko, their jounin sensei." Anko leaned against a water tank, and pointed to her genin. Sakura bowed, but Naruto just twirled a kunai on his finger. Temari and Naruto took note that the other didn't stand on formalities, and smiled.

"Ok, we know where Sasuke is, but if it were up to me I'd turn this place upside down. It probably has intel on Orochimaru's operations. I say we split into two to teams. Genin on one, Jounin on the other. The genin can go get Sasuke, while the jounin look for anything useful."

"I agree. Who leads the genin team?"

"Both of mine are rookies." Anko shrugged.

"Are you ok with Temari leading? She has a year under her belt."

"Fine by me. Let's do this and get the hell out of here." Anko turned and walked off down a hallway. Baki followed her wordlessly.

"Ok, let's go get this Sasuke guy. Naruto from that left hook I saw on that missing-nin I'm guessing you're your team's close combat expert?" Temari looked to the other blonde.

"Nailed it."

"Ok, Sakura is it? What are your skills?"

"All I have right now is academy level taijutsu, and a few E-Rank jutsu."

Inwardly Temari groaned. There weren't supposed to be any enemies left, but Temari like to have her bases covered, and a girl like Sakura would get in the way.

"Sakura, would you like to go up to the surface? Naruto and I can get your buddy."

Sakura hesitated.

"It's ok, I'll send a clone with you, so you aren't alone." Naruto smiled and made a shadow clone. Sakura nodded and began walking upstairs with the clone following. Temari and Naruto turned in the opposite direction and went down a flight stairs.

"Sorry, I sent your girlfriend away." Temari made small talk

"She isn't my girlfriend." Naruto flushed

"Oh, so you're single?" Temari teased

"What are you interested?" Naruto fired back.

"Right, I don't date shrimps." Temari hid a smile

"Had to go for my weak spot didn't you…"Naruto faked a sob, and then smiled.

"To bad we're from different villages. You aren't so bad."

"Yeah…"Temari said wistfully. As the Kazekage's daughter damn near everyone was afraid to come close to her, so she actually was pretty alone. They got down the bottom level and began walking down a hallway.

"Hey, at least you'll have friends to go home to, Temari." Naruto reassured the kunoichi.

"Not as many as you might think."

"Say what?"

"I'm the Kazekage's daughter. I don't have many friends."

"Well that make's two of us. I can count my friends on two hands." Naruto was a little saddened.

"Bah, why would anyone stay away from you? You're annoying, but you seem like a good guy." Temari raised an eyebrow.

"I wish I could tell you, but it's a triple S-Rank secret." Naruto's voice was hollow. Temari thought about her brother, and the way the villagers treated him, and took a wild guess.

"Jinchurikii?"

Naruto stopped in his tracks, and stared at Temari. The kunoichi raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yeah…jinchurikii." Naruto finally sighed. "Look don't tell anyone else you know, if anyone finds out that you know people could die. Including you." Naruto was deadly serious.

"Your secret's safe with me Naruto." Temari smiled that he was honest with her. Naruto smiled back and opened his mouth

"Cool. Let's go find Sasuke and get out of here." And the two new friends walked down the hallway together.

_With Baki and Anko._

Anko was rummaging through a file cabinet while Baki was tearing apart a desk. So far neither of them had found any intel, but each had pocketed a few jutsu scrolls. Then Anko pulled something that made Anko's eyes widen. On the file was written _Suna Infiltration._ She turned to Baki. He would definitely want to see this, but she still wasn't sure what it was. She opened the file and her eyes grew even wider.

"Baki! Come over here!" Anko raised her voice. The Suna jounin jogged over, and Anko handed him the file. His eyes narrowed when he read the name of the file, and then his eyes got extremely wide when he read the second page.

"This is…a plan to assassinate Kazekage-sama." Baki stammered.

"Yeah I know. That's why I gave it to you." Anko deadpanned.

"Anko-san, thank you so very much."

"You helped save one of my brats, it's the least I can do. I'll take whatever punishment I receive." Anko smiled.

"Can I ask that you keep this a secret, except for the Hokage?" Baki was deadly serious now

"I won't tell a soul besides the Old Man."

"I haven't found anything else, have you?"

"Nuh, uh."

"Ok then. Want to head back to the surface?"

"Fine by me."

_With Sakura._

Sakura was going to walk over and stand next to Kankuro and Gaara, but a warning glance from Kankuro convinced her to do otherwise. The shadow clone was being Naruto, and as a result she had punched it a couple minutes after they got up. So now she was sitting alone underneath a tree. She thought about Naruto down in the hideout alone with Temari, and for some reason, it bothered her. Sakura was bothered that someone had _Naruto_ to themselves, but she didn't know why, so she ignored it and thought about the girls fan until they saw Anko and Baki walked out of the hideout

_Back the Naruto and Temari_

The two new friends stopped in their tracks.

"Does something seem wrong here to you?" Naruto whispered.

"Yeah, something just doesn't _feel _right. Is that the vibe you're getting?" Temari whispered back

"Yup." Both shinobi drew their weapons and began walking again, albeit much slower. Before long they reached the end of the hallway. When they looked at the cells, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

"What the hell…wasn't he supposed to be in one of these cells?" Naruto pointed out.

"I'm smelling a trap…"Temari murmured. Naruto nodded and the two genin began backing up, but they as they did so, Naruto tripped a trap in the floor and a trapdoor opened, dumping both blondes down into it.

**Review please.**

**LOL CLIFFHANGER! DEAL WITH IT!**

**You shouldn't have to wait to long though, I'll probably be posting the next chapter today.**


	4. Friends

**I don't own Naruto.**

**I don't have anything funny to say, so just imagine Barack Obama in a clown suit.**

**As Always**

**Enjoy :D**

_Demon Island: Surface_

Anko tapped her foot impatiently, and Sakura rubbed her hands together. Night was starting to fall, and neither Naruto nor Temari had come back out of the base. Even Baki was starting to get a bit impatient.

"It's been two hours where are they?" Kankuro complained

"Probably lost…"Sakura suggested, but Anko shook her head.

"Probably. Baki, I'm gonna go in and look for them, you want to come?"

Baki agreed and the two jounin instructed their students to stay put. Then they started down the steps into the base.

"What do you think happened?" Baki asked once they were out of earshot

"Ambush? Probably a trap, Orochimaru had to have some set up." Anko suggested

"Maybe."

"Well, let's find them and get out here." And the two jounin descended into the darkness.

_With Naruto and Temari_

Temari opened her eyes groggily, she was on her back and felt something on top her. The Suna kunoichi lifted her head and saw Naruto lying on top of her. Her eyes snapped open and she yelled out

"Naruto, wake up!"

The male blonde's eyes shot open and he looked at where he was. Then he saw Temari. The two blondes scrambled to get up, and look at each other, with a bit of blush showing on their faces.

"Sorry…"Naruto stammered, embarrassed.

"Whatever…"Temari turned to hide her blush.

"Where are we? Last I remember we got dropped in a hole." Naruto looked around. They were in a large darkened room.

"Which was your fault by the way…"Temari looked for an exit.

"I believe we agreed that we were in a trap." Naruto looked at the girl

"I still think it's your fault."

"Let's agree to disagree."

"Deal." The two blondes smiled at each other and looked at their surroundings.

"I don't see any exits, how about you?" Temari scanned

"No, but I see something else." She heard Naruto draw a kunai.

"Like what?" Temari took out her battle fan and turned.

"Like snakes. Lots and lots of snakes."

"Great. We are in the one of the most cliché traps ever, a snake pit."

"Oh screw it; no ever said Orochimaru was creative. Let's get rid of his pets."

"What's the plan?" Temari asked

"Since you use long range, you keep back the majority, and I'll take out any that get past you."

"Ok, sounds good enough to hold until the jounin show up."

Naruto went through some hand signs and slammed his hands into the ground.

"Lightning Style: Shockwave" The ground cracked and dozens of snakes were thrown into the air.

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Temari swung her fan and the snakes were cut to pieces. Naruto impaled several with kunai when they got close. Temari swung her fan again and more snakes were turned to meat.

"More coming from the left!" Naruto shouted, and threw a kunai with a paper bomb attached, and blew the snakes to smithereens.

"A couple hundred just come from the right!" Temari blew some wind at the pile of vipers.

"There's no end to them!" Naruto threw couple more shuriken. A cobra struck at him, and dodged into the air, and grabbed a kunai. His last. The genin landed and waited for the snake to strike before impaling it's head on the floor. He pulled out his kunai and back up back to back with Temari.

"I'm on my last kunai, do you have any?"

"I don't carry them. I use my fan for pretty much everything." Temari smacked a viper with the massive fan and knocked it back into the pile.

"Damn…"

"I'm running out of chakra." Temari panted. Naruto formed a hang sign and a dozen shadow clones appeared.

"Now I have twelve kunai, but we can't hold for much longer." The snakes struck and the two genin moved in a blur.

_With Anko and Baki._

"I felt chakra pulse, how about you?" Baki began sprinting down the stairs

"Yep." Anko jumped over the rail and beat the Suna jounin to the door. They ran down the hallway to see nothing there.

"Where the hell are they?!" Anko shouted.

"Below us…" Baki murmured

"How did they get there?"

"I don't know, let's look for a tunnel, or stairs or something." Baki turned a triggered the same pressure plate Naruto did. The two jounin fell into black.

_With Naruto and Temari_

Naruto formed more hand signs.

"Lightning Style: Static Explosive!" He threw the ball of electricity and disintegrated a couple hundred snakes.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Temari spread blood across her fan and a weasel appeared with a scythe.

"Wow, Temari, what did you get yourself into now?" The weasel's eyes widened.

"Long story, but could you help us out Kamatari, the guy in black is a friend."

"Of course." The weasel flew into the air and started cutting the heads from snakes. Naruto backed up back to back with Temari and started talking.

"Temari, my last clone just went down, and I'm running low on chakra, myself."

"A few hundred shadow clones will do that, Naruto…"Temari fired back

"Well, we're screwed unless we come up with a plan." Naruto sliced the head from a snake.

"What about those two Lightning Jutsu you know?" Temari threw out another wind scythe.

"They cost a lot." Naruto panted

"Oh."

"Ok, look, you can fly with that fan of yours right?"

"Yeah, but it can't handle two people."

"Well, it's better for one person to die, than two." Naruto muttered

"Not abandoning a teammate." Temari simply stated.

"Ok, new plan, that weasel can use wind chakra right?" Naruto sighed

"Yeah…"

"What's his name?"

"Kamatari" and then Temari felt a fist hit her stomach. She cursed at Naruto's stupidity and fell to the ground.

"Kamatari!" Naruto shouted as he cut open a snake.

"Why'd you knock her out?!" The weasel snarled as he cut a snake in half

"Take her and her fan and go up the pipe at the top of the room."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, just go…" Naruto ordered monotone

Kamatari stared at the blond as there was a lull in the assault. Naruto put Temari on her spread out fan, and Kamatari fed wind chakra into it. The pair lifted into the air above Naruto. The weasel nodded to the boy, who smiled.

"You're gutsy kid. Don't think I would have minded you signing my contract." The summoning animal muttered as he watched the blonde take on the thousands of snakes.

_With Baki and Anko_

Baki curled into a ball as he slid down the tube, but Anko spread out her arms and started howling in joy.

"At least we'll die having fun!" The Konoha kunoichi yelled

"Baki!" The Suna-nin opened his eyes and saw a weasel feeding chakra into Temari's fan, said kunoichi was lying on it unconscious. They were coming up the pipe

"Kamatari! Is Temari alright?" Baki shouted as they flew past the summons.

"She's fine! The Konoha kid is still down there!" The weasel shouted down the pipe. Both jounin felt a massive chakra signature. Anko shivered. It wasn't Naruto. She and Baki began going through hand signs, as they saw the light of explosions down the tunnel. Both jounin shot fire jutsu at the floor and cleared away the snakes. Then they froze when they saw the Konoha genin. He was bathed in red chakra and a single tail could be seen waving in the area. The cloak looked like a fox. Anko snapped back to reality and shouted to Baki.

"Baki, stay away from Naruto! He might not be in control of himself!"

Baki nodded, and started defending himself from snakes. Naruto turned to them and his face brightened a bit.

"I'm fine Anko-sensei! But the damn fox won't shut up. Any good insult ideas?"

"Have you tried overgrown furball?!" Anko shouted back

"Yeah, he just laughed at me, and called me a puny human…" Naruto swiped his hand and disintegrated some snakes. All three shinobi stood in a circle. All three went through some hand signs.

"Lightning Style: Static Explosive!"

"Fire Style: Dragon flame jutsu!"

"Wind Style: Hundred Blade Jutsu!" all the ninja shouted in unison. The mass of snakes disintegrated under the assault. Naruto's jutsu lit the room with its intensity, and the remaining snakes hissed and retreated. The cloak around Naruto dissipated and Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head.

"Man I thought I was screwed…"

Anko grinned.

"Alright, well let's get out of here."

"Uh…how…" Naruto raised an eyebrow. Anko grinned.

"Earth Style: Stone Pillar Jutsu!" she slammed her hands into the ground and a pillar shot out of the ground underneath the three shinobi.

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed.

_With Temari and Kamatari_

Temari's eyes snapped open.

"Naruto!" she yelled sitting up. Kamatari stood next to her.

"He's still down there…"

Temari started to get up, but the one eyed weasel stood on her chest forcing her back down with chakra.

"The kid wouldn't want you to die for him."

Temari's eyes widened and she thought of blonde haired hyperactive ninja.

"No, no I wouldn't." a voice added. Temari jerked around and saw Baki, Anko, and Naruto come up the shaft.

"I thought this closed after the person fell in?" Baki looked at the doors.

"Wind chakra, Baki, wind chakra." Kamatari answered.

Naruto walked over to Temari and the kunoichi got up.

"Are you ok? Ow!" Naruto shouted as Temari slapped him across the face.

"That's for punching me in the stomach!" Temari slapped him again

"That's for being an idiot!" She hit him one more time and shouted

"That's for making me think my friend died for me!"

Naruto smiled had one side of his face started to swell.

"Anything else you want to hit me for?" Temari punched him

"That's for flirting with me!"

"I'm not flirting!"

"What am I not good enough to flirt with?" Temari narrowed her eyes.

"I didn't say that!"

"So you _do_ think I'm attractive?" Temari raised an eyebrow.

"Yes! I mean, no, I mean, I'm confused…" Naruto held his head. Temari hid her smile that she had finally gotten Naruto nervous. Meanwhile Anko was laughing her ass off, and Baki was smirking.

"You two are a great couple!" Anko held her sides.

"_Say what?!"_ Temari and Naruto shouted and Anko laughed even louder.

"See what I mean!" Anko elbowed Baki whose smirk got a bit wider.

"Not cool!" Naruto shouted and the two teens turned and stalked off to meet up with the rest of the team. Anko just kept on laughing at their backs until she ran out of breath.

_With Naruto and Temari_

"Ugh, I can't believe her…" Naruto growled.

"She's not very subtle is she?" Temari asked.

"No, she isn't, but she's a great sensei, and like family to me. Anko-sensei may not seem like it, but she's very caring and protective of her friends." Naruto smiled.

"Well, she also seems to like messing with people." Temari deadpanned

"Yeah, she does…" Naruto laughed.

_With Sakura_

Sakura looked up as she heard laughter coming from the stairs. She stood up and looked to the opening to the stairs and saw Naruto and Temari walk out laughing. Kankuro walked over as well, and greeted his sister. Sakura expected Naruto to walk over to her, but was a little peeved when the blonde stayed and talked with Temari and Kankuro instead. The pink haired girl stood up and stomped over to the trio.

"Then she slaps me again and yells 'That's for making me think my friend got killed!'" Naruto laughed

"Oh, so you two are _real_ good friends now, huh?" Kankuro teased. Sakura didn't know why, but she was suddenly jealous of Temari, when the Suna kunoichi and Naruto blushed.

"Where's Sasuke?"

"We don't know…" Temari and Naruto shrugged.

"How can you be so cavalier, Naruto?!" Sakura shouted.

"Because if he isn't here, then he is safe…" Naruto deadpanned. Sakura deflated.

"Well let's go look for him." Sakura stamped her foot.

"Sakura, you're being childish. We have to wait for Anko-sensei, and Baki-san." Naruto scolded.

"Naruto, we're only thirteen, I think we're entitled to be a little bit childish."

"We're also shinobi who are expected to kill, and/or die to achieve our objective. In the eyes of our village, we became adults as soon as we got this headband." Naruto fired back

"Since when do you act so smart?" Sakura deadpanned.

"Since you started whining about Sasuke. We have no idea where he is Sakura. We can't do much without more information anyway. Now then back to the story. Anko sensei started making fun of us…"

Sakura stormed off in the direction of the beach.

"Well that was unpleasant…" Naruto said drily

The two Suna-nin laughed, and Naruto examined his two new friends. Temari he found to be a bit rough on the outside, but also seemed caring and kind as well. Not to mention that her and Naruto would have to talk.

Kankuro seemed like a rude frees spirit, but so was Naruto and the two of them were both pranksters at heart, so they were getting along pretty well. The puppet user seemed like he needed a friend as well.

But then there was the other guy, Gaara. He had been quiet the whole time, and the Suna-nin had panicked when there was danger of him seeing blood. The red head seemed to have a dead look in his eyes, and Naruto felt from him that which he'd only felt from one other source. The only times he'd felt such killing intent and bloodlust was when the Kyuubi had come out in the forest when he was going after Mizuki as well as just several minutes earlier. Naruto had felt the same feelings then.

He looked to Gaara who was standing up a against a tree with his eyes wide open, as well as bloodshot. So he was an insomniac as well. Then Naruto looked away and thought about the fact that Temari had pegged him as a jinchurikii. It struck Naruto there and then.

"Uh, Temari, Kankuro, can I talk to you guys for a second? In private?"

The two other teenagers seemed surprised, but agreed to it. Naruto made a shadow clone, and walked away into the forest, out of earshot of everyone else. He turned to the two Suna-nin with a very serious look on his face.

"Guys, is Gaara a jinchurikii?"

Temari sighed as if she had known this was coming, but Kankuro's eyes widened that Naruto had hit the nail on the head.

"We can't really tell you that, Naruto, I'm sorry." Kankuro stated. Temari looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, and Naruto nodded his permission.

"Kankuro, what I'm about to tell you is a triple S-Rank secret, and if you tell anyone not only will assassins be sent after you, but they will also be sent after whomever you told. Do you still want to hear this?" Temari was monotone.

"I can keep my trap shut, what is it?"

"Kankuro, Naruto is a jinchurikii to. Of the Kyuubi." Temari squeezed her eyes shut. Then she heard Kankuro hold his breath.

"Then why is he so different from Gaara. Why are you so happy all the time?" The puppet-user sounded sad and a bit bitter that his brother had been turned into a psychopath while this guy was happy nearly all the time.

"Because I found people to be close to. People to protect. What happened to Gaara to get him this way? You two and Baki seem to care for him." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto, what we're about to tell you could get _us _killed." Kankuro sighed

"I'll keep my mouth shut, but if you don't trust me enough yet, I'll understand; we've only known each other a couple hours." Naruto nodded his head.

"Well if I remember right you put your life before my sister's and were willing to _force_ her to retreat while you stayed in a pit filled with thousands of snakes; I'm perfectly willing to trust you Naruto." Kankuro pointed out. Naruto nodded.

"Ok then."

Kankuro took a breath.

"Well as I'm sure you've figured out. Yes Gaara is a jinchurikii. Of the Ichibi. But he wasn't just shunned in Suna. Naruto, the Kazekage has tried to have Gaara killed multiple times…he was deemed a danger to Suna, and ever since the first attempt Gaara has been on the edge, wanting to kill at the first sign of an opportunity to do so. He used to be a good kid. Kind and caring. But the first attempt was by our uncle, Yashamaru. He was one of the few that was truly kind to Gaara, and it broke Gaara to kill him. Ever since then he hasn't trusted anyone, not even us, his own family. He went out of his mind. "

Naruto stood there in silence. Then sighed and closed his eyes.

"I guess I'll have to chat with him then."

_"NO!"_ Temari and Kankuro both shouted.

"Haven't you been listening to what I was saying?!" Kankuro shouted

"Yes."

"Well you should know that Gaara will go berserk!" Temari yelled

"And I'll be able to contain him. Remember that I'm the jinchurikii of the Kyuubi. I release one tail's worth of power and I'll be equal to the Ichibi itself. Not just Gaara."

Both sand siblings gulped.

"Ok. We'll let you talk to him, but _please_ be careful about what you say." Temari broke the silence

"Deal."

All three teens started back to the clearing, to make an effort to change a life.

**Next time we see Gaara and Naruto get into a conversation. Pretty boring if you ask me.**


	5. Let's talk about Mother

**I don't own Naruto.**

**This one is short because it is the ending of the Land of the Sea Arc.**

Naruto back flipped away from the hand made from sand. Temari and Kankuro were trying to calm Gaara while dodging sand tendrils thrown towards them. This talk had started off well enough.

_FLASHBACK_

_Gaara looked up as Naruto, Temari, and Kankuro arrived in front of him. He gave them a bored look, but was a bit surprised when the blonde didn't wipe the shit eating grin from his face._

_"Gaara, I'm Naruto. Temari and Kankuro told me about your 'Mother.'" Naruto started carefully._

_"And? You bore me…"_

_"Can you describe what your Mother wants you to do?" Naruto smiled_

_"She wants me to kill you."_

_"Why does she want you to kill me?" _

_"She says that you'll make me feel alive and that your blood will make her stop talking in my head for a while."_

_"Oh, so Shukaku wants my blood, huh?" Naruto narrowed his eyes, but stepped backwards in surprise when Gaara clutched his head._

_"Mother! No stop I'll kill him! Please stop!" Gaara screamed and threw his first tendril of sand of the fight._

_FLASHBACK END_

"This wasn't good idea!" Naruto shouted.

"No shit!" Kankuro and Temari fired back.

"Anyone got a plan!?"  
"What about that Kyuubi of yours?" Kankuro raised an eyebrow.

"I tried he said he wasn't in the mood."

"You're friggin' kidding me!" Temari shouted. While they were talking Gaara was laughing maniacally, and talking to the Shukaku.

"YES, HELP ME FEEL ALIVE!"

Temari grimaced when a sand tendril caught her ankle, and started to envelop her. Then she was in a tree looking at Naruto getting enveloped by sand.

"Run! I can't stop him! Find Baki and Anko!" Naruto shouted

"Hell no!"Kankuro grabbed his new friends arm and tried to separate him from the sand now up to his waste.

"Bye guys…"Naruto smiled when the sand enveloped his face. Kankuro jumped back as the sand tried to cover him as well.

"Sand Burial!" Gaara shouted and he clenched his fist. The sand imploded and there was a burst of smoke.

"_NARUTO!"_ Temari and Kankuro shouted. There was a scream behind them, but they ignored it as they took out their weapons. If nothing else they had to hold Gaara until Baki showed up to deal with him. Then they felt _another_ massive chakra signature.

_With Sakura._

Sakura felt a huge chakra presence and had gone to investigate only to see Naruto get crushed by sand. She dropped to her knees, but not from anguish. _Two_ huge chakra signatures were now in the air. The dust cleared from Gaara's Sand Burial, and Naruto was on all fours. Three tails were swishing behind him as the red cloak of chakra enveloped his body. The blonde stood up and screamed in rage. Then he disappeared, and Gaara flew up into the air, getting knocked around like a pinball machine. Temari and Kankuro couldn't believe what they were seeing. Gaara had never been hurt before, but now Naruto was taking him apart like it was nothing. Naruto dropped a heel kick onto Gaara's head and the Ichibi jinchurikii impacted the ground and formed a crater. Naruto landed on all fours and began growling at the hole. Gaara stood back up and half of his body was enveloped in sand.

"Uzumaki!" He screamed. His response was a haymaker to the face. Gaara flew backwards and through several trees. Naruto disappeared and reappeared by Gaara. The blonde picked up the redhead by his shirt and shoved him a tree. The Kyuubi jinchurikii raised a clawed hand.

"_NARUTO!" _A female yet commanding voice shouted. Naruto turned his red eyes toward Anko. He relaxed at the sight.

"Stand down!" Anko ordered. Naruto released Gaara, and the cloak dissipated. Then he grabbed his head.

"SHUT UP!" Naruto screamed.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU WANT FURBALL, SO SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Anko and Sakura began running over to Naruto, while Baki stood to the side. Anko arrived next to her student first and kneeled down to the boy who was now in a fetal position. She sat him up and saw his eyes watering.

"Anko-sensei, make him shut up…" Naruto's bottom lip quivered. Then something surprising happened. Anko wrapped him in a hug. Sakura was so shocked that she stopped in her tracks.

"Just ignore him, Naruto. What matters is out here, not in your head." Anko murmured in her student's ear.

"But he won't shut up…he's driving me insane…"Naruto sobbed a little bit.

"Just listen to me. Kyuubi doesn't matter." Anko whispered. Naruto sobbed a little more and whispered.

"I'm scared of him, Anko-Onee-san."

"The all powerful Naruto Uzumaki is scared of something?" Anko smiled. Naruto stood up quickly.

"No! I'm not afraid of anything, least of all some freakishly huge furball who can't do anything except give me headaches, I just had a moment of weakness!"

Anko stood up and clapped him on the shoulder.

"That's more like it, Blondie!"

Naruto tried to turn but stumbled. Anko grabbed his arm both to catch him and get his attention. She threw his arm over her shoulder and put hers under his other arm to support him. They began to make their way over to way Baki was sitting with Gaara.

"Call me 'Onee-san' again and you die." Anko talk with a smile.

"Aw, I thought you liked being a big sister." Naruto needled her back.

"Tell you what. Call me whatever when we're not on duty, but it's always Anko-sensei on duty."

"Ok then."

Then he looked up to where Temari and Kankuro were walking up with stunned looks on their faces.

"Hi guys. See any good movies while me and your insomniac brother were sparring?" Naruto tried to joke.

"_Spar!?" _they protested in unison.

"Well, I mean if we had been _fighting_ we could have leveled the mountain behind us."

Temari and Kankuro were silent.

"Um, Naruto…" Temari began.

"Huh? Whats up?" Naruto looked to the Suna kunoichi, and Temari pecked him on the cheek.

"Thanks." The blonde kunoichi smiled and walked over to her redhead brother. Anko and Kankuro were howling at the look on Naruto's face. He looked like he's dunked his head in tomato sauce.

"What was that for…" Naruto's voice was hoarse.

"For saving her life I think…"Kankuro said through tears of laughter. Anko filed that away to ask for the story, but kept on laughing. Finally Naruto looked at Kankuro.

"If you ever kiss me, if I save your life I'll kill you. Anko-sensei I'll have to save your life sometime if that's how women react." Naruto showed a foxy grin. Kankuro fell to the ground laughing, while Anko was struck dumb with the brat's guts. In response she laughed and punched him in the back of the head.

"What happened to big sister you nasty bastard?" Anko laughed. With that the three shinobi went to Gaara, who was now awake. Naruto looked at him, while Gaara looked straight into Naruto's eyes.

"Where does your strength come from?" Gaara asked quietly.

"I fight to protect those I care about Gaara. I'd die to protect Anko-sensei or Sakura, or hell, even Temari and Kankuro." Naruto answered with a smile.

"I grew up alone. With no one to care for me and everyone calling me a monster. I know you grew up the same way, but just because they say you're a monster, doesn't mean you are one."

Gaara was quiet.

"Thank you." He murmured.

"For what?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Saving my sister." Gaara murmured. Temari didn't know whether to cry or leap for joy. It had been years since Gaara called her his sister.

"It's no problem. She's a good friend." Naruto smiled still hadn't left his face.

"Now if you'll excuse us we have to rest up and then we have to search for our teammate." Anko excused the Konoha-nin.

"We might as well go with you. Temari and Gaara are exhausted, so we'll be slowed if we go back to Suna now. While we're here, Kankuro and I can search for your teammate." Baki offered.

"We appreciate the help. You can't miss him he looks broody and his hair looks like a duckass." Anko decribed Sasuke.

Temari and Kankuro face faulted "Uh…that might have helped before we came here…"

"Why…"Anko was confused.

"Because we saw him at a sushi bar eating rice balls…" Temari looked at the ground in exasperation.

Anko slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand slid it over her face.

"Well that makes things simpler…now I only have to kick his ass for not reporting in…" Anko growled.

Sasuke finished his rice ball. Ever since he'd tripped over that sea turtle and gotten dragged away with it, he'd been waiting her for his team to come by looking for him. He huffed that they _still_ weren't looking for him, and paid his bill.

"Oh Saaaaskue…" Anko called sweetly. Sasuke turned with a bored look on his face only to see Naruto, Anko, and a couple Suna shinobi cracking their knuckles with a redhead Suna-nin, and his jounin, as well as Sakura standing behind them with their arms crossed.

"We've been looking for you sweetie…"Anko tapped him on the head.

"Where? I didn't see you…" Sasuke was skeptical. Then Anko grabbed him in a headlock

"In Orochimaru's base. It sure was fun fighting those guards."

The Suna kunoichi spoke up and turned her head with a smile.

"Yeah, and me and Naruto had a beautiful time in that snake pit, didn't we Naruto-kun?"

"Oh yeah we sure did Temari-chan. I had to pull a heroic sacrifice and everything! See Sasuke! Look at this viper bite on my arm, and Temari has a diamondback bite on her left foot, see it! Oh man I wish you could have been there. It's too bad we're immune to those poisons, dying in agony from the venom would have been really neat!"

"Oh, yeah, Sasuke! Me and Baki over there got to save Naruto from being digested by several thousand reptiles. You really should have come!" Anko grinned sadistically.

"Anko-san why did we assault that base again?" Kankuro turned his head.

"I don't remember…_oh yeah_ we thought Sasuke had been taken prisoner because he never showed up again!" Anko spat.

"Look, I was hungry, and soaking wet, and…" The last Uchiha turned tail and ran, his four very pissed off comrades close on his heels.

_Middle of nowhere, one day later._

"Well, this is where we part ways." Baki announced.

"Yeah. Thanks again for your help." Anko nodded in appreciation.

"You're welcome, it was our pleasure to work with such an, um, eccentric team." Baki smiled

"Well, if you ever need some help you know where to find us. Just ask for Team Anko." Anko smiled and turned to the genin. Sasuke had a black eye and was leaning on Sakura so his sprained ankle and busted kneecap wouldn't have a lot of weight on them. Their sour looks matched well to. Sasuke was still peeved about the beating he'd received, but Sakura was staring at Naruto and Temari.

"I expect that date you promised the next time I'm in Konoha or you're in Suna." Temari told him.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. I'll se ya later Temari-chan."

"Bye Naruto-kun." Then she turned away and joined Kankuro who just waved to Naruto which he returned. Last of all was Gaara.

"So how are you feeling, Gaara." Naruto asked.

"I'm not completely sure what to feel right now. I'm going to make an effort to find some 'precious people' like you said." Gaara monotoned out.

"Everyone here cares about you Gaara. Remember that." Naruto smiled and said goodbye to his new, friend?

_No, not yet…, maybe acquaintance whom I might enjoy to become friends with in the future…_ Naruto chuckled at his own thought process. The eight shinobi parted ways and the intersection was left empty.

**Reviews please? NARUTO ANKO AND THE ANBU SOON!**


	6. Chunin Exams Arc BEGIN

**I don't own Naruto**

**Sorry for the lack of updates. I got going on an FMA fanfic and I kind of neglected Naruto.**

**As always**

**Enjoy : D**

Chunin Exams Arc BEGIN

_Jounin Meeting Room, Konohagakure._

Konoha's jounin were gathered in front of the Hokage.

"As you all know the chunin exams will soon be held here in Konoha. I've chosen the proctors and everything is in order, we have one thing left to do. Anko Mitarashi, Asuma Sarutobi, and Hayate Gekko step forward please. The three jounin moved forward.

"You three are leading this year's rookie teams. You may recommend them for the chunin exams, but I'd recommend waiting a year. Do any of you have recommendations?" The Hokage puffed on his pipe. Hayate stepped forward.

"Hokage-sama, I am Hayate Gekko, jounin-sensei of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame. I recommend all three of these genin for the chunin exams."

There were some murmurs at that. Asuma stepped forward.

"Hokage-sama, I am Asuma Sarutobi, jounin sensei of Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Chouji Akimichi. I, to, recommend all three of these genin for the chunin exams." Anko went last.

"Hokage-sama, I am Anko Mitarashi, jounin sensei of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha. I guarantee that all my genin will blow the exams out of the water." Anko grinned.

"This is ridiculous!"

The three jounin sensei turned to see a very angry chunin in the crowd.

"These kids were all my students, and I can tell you that none of them could possibly be ready for the exams!" Iruka shouted. Anko turned and walked to Iruka, and she looked mighty pissed.

"Iruka, I understand you're attached, but when they graduated they became _shinobi_. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke have gained a great deal of my respect and trust, and I won't stand here and let you insult them by doubting their skills…" Anko growled.

"Anko I know they did a C-Rank, but that doesn't make them ready for the chunin exams!"

"Have you forgotten that in the intervening time since that mission they've gone on numerous training trips into Training Ground Forty-Four? Not to mention the numerous D-Ranks they've completed? They are a team now, and they're _my_ team. _Mine_ not yours. And right now I would trust them enough to take a low end B-Rank. So sit down and shut up." Anko let go of Iruka and went back to her place acting as if the outburst hadn't happened.

"Very well. The nine rookies will take the chunin exams." The Hokage passed over a stack of papers, and Anko left the room with a grin on her face.

_Naruto's Apartment, Konohagakure_

Naruto's eyes shot open when his window shattered and a kunai impaled a note on the wall opposite his bed. He rolled out of bed and read the letter.

_I have your instant ramen. Come to the bridge near the Forest of Death with your teammates if you ever want to see it again._

_:D_

_Anko_

Naruto read the letter and sighed. He looked at his clock and it read 9:30 AM. Naruto pulled on his ninja gear and left to find his teammates.

_Konohagakure_

Sakura yawned and glared at Naruto for getting her out of bed so early. Sasuke just leaned against the bridge railing and struggled to keep from nodding off. Naruto meanwhile was tapping his foot waiting for Anko to show up.

"Heyo, kiddies!" Anko waved as he walked up.

"Morning sensei." Sakura yawned

"Hi, Anko-sensei." Naruto grinned when she threw him a burlap sack. His teammates looked at it curiously by he put himself between them and his ramen. Sasuke remained stoic.

"I have a surprise for you three. Here!" Anko handed all three papers.

"Registration forms for the chunin exams?" Sakura looked up curiously.

"Yeah...all three of you better enter or else I'll kick your asses. See ya later." Anko waved goodbye and shunshined away. Naruto said goodbye to his teammates and started wandering off in the direction of Ichiraku. Then he saw a rock following him. A _square_ rock…

Naruto turned and kicked the box.

"Konohamaru rocks aren't square." Naruto pursed his lips.

"You're good Naruto-onii-san! That's one of my best disguises!" the Konohamaru burst out of the box followed by two other children.

"Who are your flunkies, and why are you wearing goggles?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I'm Moegi!" The pigtailed girl shouted and ran to stand next to Konohamaru.

"I'm Udon." A boy with large glasses and snot hanging from his nose introduced himself.

"Together we're the…Konohamaru Corps!" All three academy students said the last part in unison. Naruto sighed.

"Ok, so why are you wearing goggles?"

"Because you used to wear goggles, boss!" Konohamaru explained

"Alright then. So I'm guessing you want to play?"

"Yeah, we want to play ninja!" Moegi explained.

"You do know that I _am_ a ninja right? And that means you have no chance at all?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but we still want to play." Udon wiped his nose.

"Wait boss, what can you do, that we can't?" Konohamaru crossed his arms. To answer this Naruto turned and walked up a wall.

"This." Naruto smiled when they looked on disbelievingly, then Naruto jumped and nailed four leaves to a fence, with a single kunai

"That."

"And this." Naruto formed a Static Explosive in his hand before letting it dissipate.

"Wow, boss, you're amazing!" Konohamaru shouted jumping into the air. Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

"He isn't that great…"Sakura interrupted walking up to the group.

"What do you know, Forehead?!" Konohamaru shouted at the kunoichi. Sakura stopped in her tracks and clenched her fists.

"Konohamaru…"Naruto stuttered.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Run." Naruto said simply before backing away. Konohamaru looked confused until he saw Sakura draw a kunai. Then he and the Konohamaru Corps sprinted away full speed and turned the corner of a fence. Naruto began laughing as Sakura huffed and put her kunai away.

_With the Konohamaru Corps_

"I think we lost her, Konohamaru…"Udon pointed out.

"I don't care, _keep running_!" Konohamaru panted, then he ran into someone's legs, and fell onto his back.

"Hey watch where you're going!" the teenager shouted.

"Watch where you're standing freak!" Konohamaru snarled. The Suna-nin put on a blank face and picked up Konohamaru by his shirt.

"What'd you call me ya little twerp?" Kankuro whispered.

"Leave him alone, Kankuro. We have to go check in to our hotel." Temari rolled her eyes.

"Not until the little brat apologizes…"Kankuro turned back to Konohamaru.

"I'm not apologizing to a jerk like you!"the academy student spat.

"You're both acting like morons…" a new voice entered the conversation from behind Kankuro. The puppet user turned to find Naruto standing next to Temari, who was stifling a laugh. Naruto turned to the other blond.

"I'll punish mine if you punish yours." Naruto suggested.

"Deal."

Naruto grabbed Konohamaru and Kankuro was put in a headlock by Temari. Both boys received punches to the head from their captor.

"So now that that's over with. HI GUYS!" Naruto shouted to his friends from Suna.

"Yo, Naruto…" Kankuro rubbed the lump on his head.

"Hi, Naruto-kun." Temari gave a small wave

"Where's Gaara?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Up here."

Naruto turned to find the redhead in a tree.

"Why are you up there?"

"Because I walked up here." Gaara responded seriously.

"…did Gaara just make a funny…"Naruto looked at the Ichibi jinchurikii.

"Yeah, Gaara has been developing a smart ass sense of humor. Wonder who taught him that." Temari gave a blank look at Naruto, who rubbed the back of his head.

"It's not my fault my sheer awesomeness has a tendency to rub off on people." Naruto grinned, but got a punch in the head from Sakura, who had just arrived panting.

"You…aren't…awesome…" The pink haired kunoichi was breathing hard.

"I think our friends from Suna here beg to differ." Naruto smiled

"Nope." Gaara tilted his head.

"Nuh uh." Temari shook her head.

"You suck…" Kankuro was more blunt.

"Oh thanks guys, I was going to treat everyone to lunch, but _noooooo_, you just _had_ to make fun of me." Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. Everyone except Gaara and Sakura laughed at his antics. Including the Konohamaru Corps. Temari narrowed one eye.

"What are you still doing here? Naruto saved your tail so scat, scram, let the big kids have their fun."

"No way, miss flat chest! Naruto-nii-san was supposed to play ninja with us." Konohamaru shouted. Naruto sighed.

"Ok A) I said I would play with you until I had to go. Which I have to go now. B)You ran from Sakura, but now you insult someone with a temper ten times worse C) Temari's chest is nowhere near flat…"

"How do you know that?" Moegi looked at Naruto curiously.

"She punched me out for saving her life…"Naruto deadpanned.

"No, how do you know her chest isn't flat?"

"We fell down a trap and I landed on top, anyway I figure you have about ten seconds to run before you die."

"So in other words kid. Temari will kill you unless you run away right now." Kankuro translated everything. To emphasize this Temari took out her fan and leaned on it, a hint of a smile on her face. Konohamaru's widened and her suddenly turned to Naruto.

"Boss, I just remembered the Old Man needed me for something! See ya!" and the scared child jumped over a fence, flunkies in tow. The genin present waited until he was out of earshot to start laughing.

"Ok, now that we're done scarring Academy students, anyone want lunch?" Naruto wiped a tear from his eye.

"We have to check into our hotel, sorry." Kankuro shrugged.

"Yeah, sorry Naruto-kun." Temari looked genuinely disappointed.

"Kankuro, you and I can go check in. Temari you can go with Naruto." Gaara interjected.

"Huh? But, why just me and you? Kankuro complained. Gaara shot a glance to Naruto and Temari, and realization dawn on Kankuro.

"Oh right…Naruto if you hurt my sister's feeling I kill you." Then the two brothers turned and walked away. Naruto and Temari stood looking amused, while Sakura was being a sourpuss.

"Naruto why did they…" The Haruno looked around and barely caught the two blondes disappearing around the side of a building.

"Why did I get left behind…"Sakura moped and walked away.

_With Naruto and Temari_

"So, ever had dango?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at Temari.

"No. Why?"

"Because you're about to have the biggest sugar rush on the face of the earth." Naruto grinned.

"I'm not sure I want that…"Temari hesitated.

"To bad, my village, I choose where to eat. Come on." Naruto grabbed Temari's wrist and pulled her through the streets of Konoha. Before long they came to Dangoya.

"Why here?" Temari looked around.

"Because it has the best dango in town, and shinobi are regulars here."

Both blondes started hearing snickers from the shinobi area of the restaurant.

"Good job, Naruto!"

"I'm so proud of you!"

"Dammit you just cost me one hundred ryo."

Naruto and Temari walked over to where Genma, Kakashi, and Anko were sitting.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Kakashi turned and had a proud look in his eye.

"You got a bombshell, kid!" Kakashi clapped him on the shoulder.

"What are you talking about it's our first date…"Temari deadpanned.

"First date and you're already making physical contact? Slow down guys." Genma chewed on his senbon

"Physical contact? What are you…"Temari and Naruto looked down where Anko was pointing. Their hands were grasped tightly together. They both jumped backwards and started stuttering out excuses.

"Yeah, right guys…go sit down and have your date, while Genma counts out his money to me." Anko shooed them away. The two teenagers grumbled and went to sit down at their own booth. Temari was about to look at a menu when Naruto stopped her.

"Just ask for Team Anko's usual, and you'll be fine."

"Why?"

"Because it's damn near everything on the menu." Naruto laughed.

"Ok then…is there a reason why you don't mind paying that much?" Temari looked skeptical. Naruto leaned close and whispered

"Because we get everything here for free. In exchange we run security for their money runs to the bank in Tanzaku Town." Naruto grinned

"Not bad…"Temari shrugged

"Just don't tell anyone, it isn't exactly, um how I should put this, uh…"

"Legal?" Temari finished with a smirk.

"I was going to say within the boundaries of the law, but legal works to…"Naruto sat back.

"Hey, Kenji, can we get Team Anko's usual over here?"

"Sure, Naruto!" the waiter waved as he shouted that to the man behind the counter. Temari found her mouth watering at the smell of the dumplings. When the waiter brought over a tray of over thirty sticks of dumplings Temari tentatively took a bite, and then proceeded to murder the food.

_With Anko, Kakashi, and Genma_

"So, Anko, how did Naruto of all people score a chick like that?" Genma was leaned back in his chair.

"He saved her life and played hero twice." Anko said with her mouth full of dango.

"Saving someone's life is a good way to make friends…"Kakashi commented from behind his book.

"Yeah, well…"Anko shrugged and then grinned when Temari started cleaning the tray of dango.

"It appears Naruto has introduced Temari to the nectar of the gods." Anko put her hands together and feigned a prayer

"You mean, dango with extra syrup?"

"Yeah…way to ruin my moment Genma…"

"My pleasure."

_With Temari and Naruto_

They had left Dangoya after Temari had finished _all _of the dango, and began walking around the village.

"I can't believe you don't have ramen _or_ dango in Suna…"Naruto was incredulous.

"Neither can I. That was awesome." Temari was beside Naruto.

"Well the way you ate I can imagine how you felt about it." Naruto laughed.

"Are you calling me fat?" Temari raised an eyebrow.

"What? No! That was my reaction the first time I had it to." Naruto sounded stressed

Temari laughed

"I'm just kidding Naruto, calm down."

"That wasn't nice, Temari-chan…"Naruto pouted

"Who said I was nice Naruto-kun?" Temari grinned

"True. Hey I want to show you my favorite spot in the whole village. Come on." And Naruto jumped away with Temari following her.

_Hokage Monument._

"Woooow…."Temari looked around her as they sat on the Yondaime Hokage's head.

"Yeah, you can see everything from up here. When I was younger I'd come up here and sit alone to get away from everyone in the village." Naruto smiled wistfully. Temari felt eyes on her back and smiled thinly.

"Naruto we aren't supposed to be up here are we?"

"Not technically no, but the ANBU don't care if I come up here." A hand tapped him on the shoulder. Cat was standing behind him.

"Uh, Naruto, usually we wouldn't mind you being up here, but there are going to be some diplomats coming by later…"

"Oh ok, Cat, I understand. See ya later." The blonde got up grabbed his date and ran down the Yondaime's face, laughing maniacally.

"Bye, Naruto." Yugao smiled behind her mask. Tiger was standing next to her.

"Glad to see the kid found someone that makes him happy."

"Me to, Tenzo. Now let's get going."

_With Naruto and Temari_

Naruto was still laughing at Temari's exasperated expression. The kunoichi had freaked out some when Naruto had run down the front of a mountain, but eventually Temari started laughing as well, and the whole village looked at the two blondes like they were insane as they walked towards Temari's hotel.

"Well, it's only noon, have anything you want to do?" Naruto caught his breath.

"No, I have to go meet up with Baki-sensei and my brothers. I'll see you later Naruto-kun."

"Bye Temari-chan." And the two shinobi parted ways. Naruto walked towards Ichiraku Ramen to see if he could find Iruka, and ask him for girl advice.

"Hey, Naruto!" Anko landed in front him.

"What's up Anko-onee-chan?"

"We have some bullshit duty to take the Academy students on a tour of the daily routine of a ninja."

"Why do they want us to do it? We go to the Forest of Death stay there all day, and then go eat either dango or ramen."

"I said that to, but the council apparently _really_ wants us to do this. All of the other chunin and genin squads have to as well. We're doing one class per squad."

"Are they dumb? Taking _academy_ students with _shinobi_ teams…" Naruto had a bored look on his face.

"Well their parents all signed waivers." Anko shrugged. Naruto sighed

"Alright, when do we do it?"

"In about ten minutes." Anko laughed at his expression.

"Ugh…let's go." Naruto followed his sensei across the rooftops to the Konoha Shinobi Academy.

**Reviews please.**


	7. Decisions

**HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS A CHAPTER, BUT IT'S JUST A PSA TELLING YOU I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

**See that was stupid and pointless because this really ****_is_**** a chapter. **

**I demanded this of my Naruto Mitarashi followers and now I demand it of you.**

**WAFFLES AND BACON! OR CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES...or a cold coke will work to. Or a warm one...**

**ANYWAYS ENOUGH OF THE RAMBLINGS OF A MADMAN**

**As Always **

**Enjoy :D**

_Forest of Death_

"Oh shut up. It's just a spider the size of Ichiraku Ramen…" Naruto stared at the terrified students with bored eyes. A couple had outright fainted. The massive tarantula crumpled to the ground with kunai in everyone of its eyes. A mess of spider silk was all over the trees.

"Well that was fun! Do I smell piss…."Anko blinked at the students. One of the boys looked away and Anko smelt him and started laughing.

"He p-pissed h-himself HAHAHAHAHA!" Anko fell over onto her sides and Naruto fell backwards laughing. Sasuke shook his head with a small smile and Sakura was giggling. The kid teared up and sobbed once. Naruto was quick to fix that.

"Hey, hey, don't cry! See this scar on my face," Naruto pointed to the four inch long scar on his cheek, "I got this when I took my genin test here. Sakura there peed all over herself when she saw a giant centipede, and Sasuke had to save me from the same centipede." Naruto laughed at the memory. The kid's tears dried up.

"Yeah, these three were wusses when I first got my hands on them!" Anko grinned

"Shut up sensei!" Naruto shouted with narrow eyes. Anko wrapped him in a headlock.

"What was that Blondie?" Anko grinned as she ran her knuckles back and forth across Naruto's skull.

"Ow ow ow ow ow, nothing!" Naruto shouted.

"I thought so. Now then, we have thirty frightened children in the middle of the Forest of Death. Any ideas on what to do?" Anko looked at her team.

"Train. Show them what shinobi can _really_ do." Sasuke suggested. Naruto and Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Ok then. All three of you come at me. I won't be holding back so you guys better not either." Anko grinned and licked a kunai in anticipation. Naruto and Sasuke both ran to either side of her and Sakura stood in place going through hand signs.

"Lightning Style: Static Explosive!"

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Demonic Illusion: Sakura Snow!"

Anko grinned as her pet kunoichi caught her in a genjutsu that only showed her sakura petals and she felt the static coming from the explosive and the heat from Sasuke's fireball. Anko went straight up and thrust out her sleeves.

"Striking Shadow Snakes!" A dozen snakes flew from her sleeves and tried to clamp onto something but only got their heads cut off.

"Earth Style: Mud Trap Jutsu!" Anko's feet sunk into the ground when she landed. Her instincts kicked in and she thrust her hand into the ground.

"Lightning Style: Static Discharge." The ground dried out and Sakura countered with several water bullets. The water and electricity mixed together and electrocuted Anko, who turned into a log in a puff of smoke. Then all three genin were wrapped in snakes that exploded from the ground. Anko was sitting on a tree branch.

"Not bad brats, but not good enough to beat me." Anko grinned at her students.

Meanwhile the Academy students looked on in awe. They were speechless at the amount of power just demonstrated.

Even if it wasn't that much…

"Let's go before they _all_ piss themselves." Anko laughed and made some clones to pick up the Academy students.

* * *

_Konohagakure Shinobi Academy_

_"You what!" _Iruka shouted

"We took them to the Forest of Death. No problem right? I mean we _did_ take them with us on our daily routine." Anko shrugged as the excited, if a little ragged, students went to meet their parents who were surprised at the state of them. Several pointed to the trench coat clad Anko and her black clad team. The parents look angry, but Anko and Naruto just responded with their typical sarcastic waves and grins. Sakura stuck her tongue out and Sasuke just rolled his eyes at the downers. One was going to come over, but Anko took out a kunai and cut Naruto's cheek. She licked the blood off and stared in anticipation at the angry mother. The woman thought better of her actions and took off to grab her child and get away from the demon and psycho.

"Mom, Naruto-onii-san and Anko-onee-san showed me a jutsu want to see?" One of the boys shouted, and, after scolding the boy about the honorifics he used for the duo, said to show it to her.

"Make sure to do what we had you do ok?!" Anko shouted. The student nodded, and went through a couple hand signs.

"Transform!"

The smoke cleared and a boa constrictor was on the ground. Several parents screamed, while Anko and Naruto burst out laughing. Sakura and Sasuke just rolled their eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" the enraged mother shouted.

"What? We taught your son a jutsu. Hey kid transform into something else." Naruto shouted. The boa constrictor transformed into a perfect copy of Anko.

"See? You should say thank you. Buh bye now." Anko and Naruto jumped away in a huff. Sakura and Sasuke narrowed the eyes at the woman, and jumped away after their teammate and sensei.

* * *

_Dangoya_

"Gah! I hate people like that." Naruto sat down and ordered dango for himself and Anko. The other two members of Team Anko strolled in and sat down next to their sensei and Naruto.

"Did you guys sign those chunin exams forms yet?" Anko asked through a mouthful of dango. Naruto picked up a beef and handed Anko a filled out form. Sakura collected Sasuke's and handed hers and his to Anko as well.

"_Alright!_ You guys all signed up. Good thing to, or else you wouldn't have been taking the exams. You have to take the exams in teams of three." Anko laughed at the expressions on her genin's faces.

"B-but…" Sakura started.

"No buts. You already signed up. Now go do whatever. This is _my_ dango. Go to room 301 at the Academy tomorrow.". Her three genin, without words, got up and left Dangoya. Anko stared at the Uzumaki swirl on the back of Naruto's black vest. These chunin exams would be very interesting, what with Orochimaru's plan to assassinate the Kazekage, and the indications that he had spies within Konoha. Anko made a snap decision about her favorite student.

"Hey, Naruto hold up!"

The blonde stopped and turned back to her.

"Huh? What's up onee-san?"

"I have to talk to you about something. Stick around."

Naruto went to sit back down and helped Anko finish the dango.

"So what'd you want to talk about?"

"Not here. Meet me at the Tower of Death." Anko disappeared. Naruto blinked and disappeared as well.

* * *

_Tower of Death_

Naruto entered Anko's apartment, and his sensei pointed to a chair in front of a small coffee table.

"Sit."

Naruto wondered what was going on and sat down. When Anko got serious, it was usually life and death. Anko seemed to be mumbling to herself, and then took a deep breath. The jounin went to sit down in front of Naruto. The twenty-four year old looked the thirteen year old in the eyes.

"Naruto you realize I trust you more than anyone else correct?" Anko raised an eyebrow. Naruto was taken aback, but nodded.

"Alright. Then think of this. What I'm about to offer you will change your life. I want to know of you want to go through with this." Anko blinked and waited for a response.

"Go through with what?" Naruto was confused.

"Signing the Snake Contract." Anko said it in monotone. Naruto was stunned. Most jounin didn't have a summoning contract, and he was being offered one at thirteen.

"Of course! It's what enables you to do all those awesome snake jutsu right?" Naruto was on his feet and grinning. Anko didn't smile back.

"Naruto you don't understand do you? This isn't some stupid fireball or something. The Snakes are living things like you and me. They can choose to attack you, or refuse to work with you when you summon them. You must always be respectful and thank them for their assistance."

Naruto was taken aback. The blonde thought about it. Then he stood up.

"Anko-sensei, I accept your offer to sign the Snake Contract. I accept all possible consequences upon myself, and thank you for the opportunity."

Anko grinned.

"I said be respectful not a kiss-ass. That was a really long 'Yes, please and thank you'"

Naruto smiled sheepishly, he opened his mouth to ask a question.

"Yes, you'll get Striking Shadow Snake. We'll be up all night, but I'll teach it to you." Anko ruffled Naruto's hair and went through some hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A large scroll around a foot wide and three feet long appeared where Anko pounded her hand on the floor. On it was the kanji for "Snake" and it rolled out to reveal several names written in blood. The last one was Anko Mitarashi. Naruto bit his thumb and wrote his name in blood. He got blood on his other four fingers and made a hand print at the bottom of his signature. The scroll rolled up and went up in a puff of smoke, revealing a green viper in its place.

"Hello Anko-sama. This is our new summoner?"

"Yes. Naruto this is Hokaido. He judges the new summoners of the Snake Clan." Anko introduced Naruto. The blonde nodded and bowed.

"It's an honor to meet you Hokaido-san, I hope that our future interactions are…pleasant?"

The python stuck it's tongue out and looked at Anko.

"He is acceptable Anko-sama. Good day."

"Good bye Hokaido."

Anko turned to Naruto and grinned before mussing his hair.

"Congratulations, Blondie."

"Thanks Anko-sensei!"

"Let's get started on your snake jutsu. We only have a few hours." The jounin rolled up Naruto's sleeves, and focused chakra in her hands.

"Ready?" Anko looked at Naruto.

"For what?"

Anko wrapped her hand around Naruto's wrist, and the blond cried out. Lines spread out from Anko's head turning into a seal. Before long the jounin removed her hand and a summoning seal was on Naruto's arm. Naruto flinched from the pain in his arm. Shooting pains were going all the way up his arm and into his shoulder. Then something unexpected happened. Anko hugged him.

"I know it hurts Naruto-kun, but it'll help you more than you know. Sorry I did it without permission."

Naruto nodded, and Anko released him.  
"This'll let you summon snakes without going through the hand signs. It's also essential to Striking Shadow Snakes."

"Let's go outside."

* * *

_Konoha Shinobi Academy_

_Next Morning_

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were dressed in their blacked out shinobi gear when they entered the Academy. The only changes being that Sasuke had the Uchiha Clan insignia on his sleeve, and Sakura was wearing a short sleeved shirt under her vest instead of the usual long sleeve. Naruto was wearing fingerless gloves, and a long sleeved shirt underneath his vest. All three had added a tanto to their arsenal and, at a suggestion from Anko, packed food. Last of all their shinobi sandals had been traded in for combat boots developed by their team. Steel was in the heel and toe allowing for more power behind kicks and chakra metal was in the sole allowed for better chakra assisted jumps.

No one gave them a second glance as they walked past Izumo and Kotetsu in a pair of obvious transformations. Sasuke eyed the genjutsu on the signs and shook his head at the two dozen or so genin arguing with them. Sasuke brushed off a jumpsuit clad maniac ranting about youth and tearful when Team Anko left him standing there. The trio walked upstairs to see Anko waiting for them with a grin on her face.

"Hey brats."

"Hello sensei." The three rookies chorused.

"Welcome to the first exam. I'm…uh…proud of you guys." Anko smiled a real smile and mussed her three student's hair.

"Now, go show everyone why Team Anko is the best genin squad to ever come out of Konoha." Anko grinned one final time and stepped aside.

The three genin threw open the doors and stepped into the Chunin Exams.

**Reviews are appreciated.**

**HAHA CLIFFHANGER DEAL WITH IT**

**Except that I'm splitting one chapter into two. This one will be up later.**


	8. The Exams

**I don't own Naruto.**

**Sorry for the delay.** **Internet problems**

**So without further ado**

**Enjoy :D**

* * *

_Konoha Shinobi Academy Room 301_

Team Anko ignored the other Konoha rookies and went to stand in a corner where they wouldn't be noticed. They waved to Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro who were standing across the room from them. A silver haired Konoha genin warned the other rookies about drawing attention when a scuffle broke out between Kiba and Chouji.

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi. I've taken the exam seven times."

"You must suck then…" Kiba commented smugly.

"Well I'm a medic so the second portion usually gets me. I depend on my intel and team to get me through. I've made it to the third portion four times, but I'm always to banged up to continue," Kabuto sounded wistful ",in the time that I've been here though, I've gathered a lot of information on everyone here. It's all here in these cards. For example here is Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." Kabuto tried to lay the cards down, but they were cut apart and burnt by a pair of small jutsu. Everyone looked over at Team Anko in surprise. Sasuke was leaning back against the wall, Sakura tried to hide her amusement, and Naruto waggled his finger at Kabuto like he was scolding a child.

"Not kind to gossip, Yakushi."

Then he turned back.

"Remind me to add 'touchy' to all three of their cards." Kabuto frowned. Everyone turned to see a Suna team stifling laughs.

* * *

_With Team Anko_

"Well the looks on their faces were funny at least." Naruto whispered. Sasuke shrugged and Sakura nodded with a smile on her face. They looked over at Kabuto as he was attacked by a team of Oto-nin.

"Says to keep a low profile then provokes the team he warned against. Nice." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Alright maggots! Sit down and shut up!" was heard from the front of the room as a large group of chunin shunshined into the room. Ibiki Morino stood there in his trench coat and stared down the assembled genin. Once everyone was at their seat he explained the test, and the rules.

"If you can't do the math, that means you and your team will fail if any of you are caught cheating five times. Begin." Pencils began scratching.

* * *

_Hokage's Office_

As they watched through the ball on the Hokage's desk, the jounin were making bets as to whose genin would do the best.

"Two hundred on Team Ten. No one can beat Ino-Shika-Cho." Asuma exclaimed proudly.

"Five hundred on Team Eight, that Inuzuka will come in handy in the second portion."

No one noticed Anko stroll up to the table, and throw down a wad of money six inches thick.

"My life-savings on Team Anko. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are going to wipe out the competition."

"That's a lot of money Anko…" The Hokage commented for the first time.

"Yes it is. And I have no doubt I'll win." Anko grinned as she stared at the developing situation in Room 301.

* * *

_Back in Room 301_

About twenty minutes into the test Naruto raised his hand.

"Hey Ibiki? You said that we could only get caught five times right?"

"Yeah? What about it Naruto?" Ibiki asked Anko's other best friend. He'd met the kid often enough and found him to be a good guy. Naruto looked at his teammates. Realization dawned in Sasuke's eyes and he smirked and shook his head. Sakura nodded. Naruto grinned. In unison all three turned around and knocked the person behind them unconscious. They took the papers from the unconscious genin and erased the names, replacing them with their own. Naruto raised his hand.

"Proctor-san? Konoha Team Anko has finished their tests." Naruto grinned and sat down amid the stunned competitors and just smirked at Ibiki.

_'Little bastards turned my own rules against me._ _You've taught your brats well Anko…' _Ibiki inwardly smiled while on the outside he scowled.

* * *

_Hokage's Office_

Hiruzen and Anko were wiping tears from their eyes they were laughing so hard, while the other jounin stood dumbfounded.

"Awesome…" Was all an ANBU in the walls had to comment to herself.

"Shut up Ibiki is giving out the tenth question." Anko shouted.

* * *

_Konoha Shinobi Academy_

Ibiki checked his watch.

"Pencils down! Now you've got to choose whether or not you want to answer the tenth question. If you choose not to answer it you'll be failed."

Sakura spoke up.

"Then why would we choose not to answer it?"

Ibiki smirked

"Because if you get the question wrong you'll be barred from taking the chunin exams ever again."

There was an uproar in the testing room.

"You can't do that! There are guys here who are taking their third or fourth exam!" Kiba shouted from the back of the room.

"Well that's just too bad. You were unlucky enough to have me as your proctor."

Hands started going up as genin started withdrawing. Meanwhile Team Anko just smirked at the people leaving. Ibiki waited until the quitters were gone, and began speaking again.

"To everyone left, there's only one thing left to say…congratulations on passing the first exam." Ibiki grinned at the surprise on everyone's faces.

"What about the tenth question?" Temari asked in surprise.

"There is no tenth question beyond the 'do I take it or not' thing." Ibiki laughed.

"Oh, I see…you wanted to test our resolve. Weed out those who don't have the guts to do what's necessary." Sasuke nodded in understanding.

"Exactly." Ibiki nodded.

"Now all we have to do is wait for the second exam proctor to show up." Ibiki nodded.

* * *

_Thirty Minutes Later_

Naruto tapped his fingers on his desk, and finally stood up.

"Screw this! Ibiki who's the second exam proctor?"

"Kakashi." Ibiki grinned

Naruto made a hand sign and twenty Naruto's came into existence.

"Go find the pervert." Naruto ordered.

"Ebisu?" one of the clones questioned.

"No, Kakashi."

"Oh!" and the clones disappeared out of the windows.

* * *

_Ten Minutes Later_

"Give it back!" was heard from the hallway.

"Keep on coming Kakashi. Catch me or the book get's burned!" Naruto's voice came back, and everyone who knew the copy ninja burst out laughing. The pair of Konoha-nin burst through the door and Naruto ran to hide behind Ibiki.

"Oh, am I late?" Kakashi eye smiled at the room.

"**YES!**" The entire room shouted.

"Meet me at ANBU Training Ground Three." Kakashi ordered as he snatched his _Icha Icha_ from a smirking Naruto. The perverted jounin disappeared in a shunshin and the genins left.

* * *

_ANBU Training Ground Three_

A large artificial town, complete with villagers, stood behind Kakashi as he read his _Icha Icha._

"I have things to do so let's keep this short. Half of you will have a target to kill half of you will have a person to protect. There are three of them. You have one day. Go get your target's picture." Kakashi pointed to a booth with a few chunin in it. Naruto went to grab their target and was a little disturbed. They had an assassination. He bit his lip and walked back to his team. The jinchurikii put his hands in his pockets as he handed Sasuke the picture. The Uchiha grimaced and handed Sakura the picture. The Haruno openly gasped, because…their target was a little girl. Naruto turned as murmurs went through the crowd of genin. Apparently they were in a similar situation. Kakashi looked up from his _Icha Icha._

"Oh, surprised? What you think being a shinobi is going to be all fun and games? That you won't have to get your hands dirty? You can always forfeit." The copy ninja shrugged as he went back to his book. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all thought about it for a moment before deciding to go on. Never the less several hands went up and those teams were directed to leave the area.

"No one else?" Kakashi scanned the crowd.

"Alright. Go!" The gate behind Kakashi opened and the teams sprinted in.

* * *

_Hokage's Office _

A few jounin grumbled that their teams had quit and Anko was proud of her team for not giving up. A ninja's life wasn't pretty. These kids had to understand that fact. Then the torture specialist smirked when she realized that Kakashi had forgotten to hand out the death waivers. The copy ninja was going to have a hell of a lot of paperwork to do.

* * *

**Reviews** **are appreciated.**


	9. Second Exam

**I don't own Naruto.**

**Quick update while my internet is working.**

**originally the second half of chapter 8.**

**As Always**

**Enjoy :D**

* * *

_ANBU Training Ground Three _

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke crouched inside an abandoned building. They'd just had a run in with a team from Ame and were resting a bit. Said team had wanted to cut down the competition, and decided that then was an opportune time.

"Hey guys I have to piss." Naruto announced. Sasuke looked amused and Sakura looked disgusted.

"You've become a lot blunter since you started hanging out with Anko-sensei."

"And?" Naruto grinned.

"I guess I'll go to. Sakura you keep watch for our target, we'll be right back." Sasuke stood up as did Naruto. They went upstairs to get some privacy from the kunoichi. They went to separate rooms and as Naruto began to relieve himself he heard chuckling.

"Hello Naruto-kun." A snake oil voice drifted from the window. The blonde jumped and buttoned his pants before whirling to see a Kusa kunoichi there.

"What the hell lady?! What are you some kind of pedophile." Naruto shouted as pulled out his tanto. Then he froze in place as a wave of killer intent hit him.

_'Woah…' _Naruto went to his knees from the sheer weight of it. Then he had a vision…of a snake tearing his throat out.

"Disappointing Naruto-kun. I expected Anko-chan to teach you better." The Kusa-nin threw a kunai and frowned when Naruto disappeared. Orochimaru smirked and he followed the chakra signature of the blonde shinobi.

Sasuke walked in and was surprised to find a kunai embedded on the wall, a bit of blood on the floor and a smashed window.

"Dammit, dobe, where'd you go?" Sasuke grunted. He ran downstairs to grab Sakura and notify her of the situation.

* * *

_With Naruto_

Naruto was heaving in an alley. Here and there a pseudo villager passed by. Not long before Team Seven had found they were simply illusions put there for the purposes of training.

"Oh, Naruto-kun you can hide better than that." The Kusa-nin had found him. Naruto shivered and threw a few kunai. The kunoichi blocked them with no effort whatsoever. Then she reached for a seal on her wrist. A _very_ familiar seal.

A raccoon appeared when the kunoichi channeled chakra into it, and Naruto smirked. _'Two can play at that game'_ and he channeled chakra into his own summoning seal. A large snake appeared beneath his feet.

"Ah, so that's why I lost my ability to summon. Anko-chan saw fit to allow someone else sign the Snake Contract." The Kusa-nin sneered. That made Naruto freeze. Only one person before Anko could summon snakes.

"Orochimaru…" he breathed. The snake beneath him hissed in distaste at this name. Naruto's eye twitched. He felt utter rage towards the person who caused Anko so much pain.

Orochimaru watched with interest as Naruto's appearance changed. His eyes became slitted and his hair became more feral. The boy's canines elongated, and a pure killing intent radiated from him. Naruto's summon disappeared in what appeared to be pain. Naruto lunged and Orochimaru commanded his summon to attack. The raccoon tried to claw at Naruto, but the Kyuubi jinchurikii screamed in rage and grabbed the paw before throwing the animal. Orochimaru was surprised at the sheer strength of the enraged jinchurikii, and jumped off his summon as it smashed into wall and disappeared in a burst of smoke.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, you'll do nicely." Orochimaru smirked as the jinchurikii charged him again. The sannin grabbed Naruto's neck and slammed him into a wall before biting him on his right bicep. Naruto screamed and fell to the ground when Orochimaru released him. The Snake Sannin heard someone shout and looked to see Sakura and Sasuke both with their tanto drawn.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun very good." Orochimaru's neck extended and he bit Sasuke in the neck, causing Sasuke to freeze and fall over. Sakura snarled and made a swipe at Orochimaru's neck, managing to give him a small cut. The sannin hit Sakura and knocked her to her knees then sank into the ground leaving the three unconscious genin where they were.

* * *

_With the Sand Siblings_

Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were searching for their target when Gaara stopped and turned towards the sounds of a battle not far from them.

"What's up Gaara?" Kankuro had his hand on Crow.

"Naruto was fighting someone, but now he is in immense pain." The Ichibi jinchurikii thought about his first friend. Temari bit her lip as she thought about Naruto. Kankuro was the first to act.

He walked in the direction Gaara was pointing.

Without words the other two followed and picked up the pace until all three were sprinting. They picked up the pace when they heard screaming in pain. They arrived in time to see Sakura swipe her blade at someone and then get knocked unconscious before that person sank into the ground. Sasuke and Naruto were writhing on the ground in pain. Naruto was clutching his arm, and Sasuke was clawing at his neck. Gaara and Temari jumped to Naruto and Kankuro went to check on Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto collapsed onto the ground when the Suna-nin landed. Sasuke swung at punch at Kankuro when he tried to touch him. Deciding to deal with that in a second Kankuro turned to check on Sakura. He sighed in relief when he felt Sakura's pulse was strong.

"We need to get them somewhere safe." Temari pointed out. Gaara nodded.

"Agreed." Kankuro shouted. Wordlessly Gaara used his sand to pick up the three Konoha-nin. Before long they were in an abandoned building. Naruto's and Sasuke's temperatures had gone through the roof, and they were mumbling to themselves in their sleep. Temari stood guard over them while Kankuro and Gaara kept watch on the roof.

* * *

_With the Oto team_

"What do you think?" Kin looked to Dosu.

"Orochimaru-sama ordered us to attack them, but he said nothing about the Suna team helping them." Dosu announced.

"We still have to attack them." Zaku pointed out.

"I know that." Dosu shut his eyes in frustration.

* * *

_That night_

The streets were empty as Anko walked to Dangoya the amount of worry she felt not showing on her face. Her team hadn't been seen since thirty minutes into the test and three bodies had been found that looked like they had died from Orochimaru's face capture jutsu. They had been registered for the chunin exams. Anko had immediately started towards the ANBU training ground, but the Hokage ordered her to stay out of it until the Second Exam was over. The sound of chuckling tore Anko from her thoughts.

"Ah, Anko-chan. You've grown to be quite beautiful." A voice that immediately sent Anko's anger through the roof taunted. The Snake Mistress turned to find Orochimaru standing there with a smirk on his face. She drew a kunai and prepared to attack him, but fell to the ground when Orochimaru used a single hand sign. He'd activated her curse seal. Anko fell to the ground clutching her shoulder.

"I was just letting you know that I was here, and that you should keep an eye on Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun."

Those names made Anko snarl at Orochimaru.

"YOU LAY A FINGER ON THEM I'LL TEAR YOU APART DO YOU UNDERSTAND SNAKE-FUCKER?!" Anko screamed her threat through her pain.

"Oh, but Anko-chan, Naruto-kun attacked me. I only defended myself. Then Sasuke-kun decided to join his friend. I didn't hurt them. In fact I gave them each a gift." Orochimaru smirked as the rage disappeared from Anko's face replaced by shock.

"You…what…"

"I gave them a gift. Don't worry I think they'll survive. This new curse seal allows one in five to live." Orochimaru mocked Anko as he sank into the ground. Anko got to her feet when the pain dissipated and looked towards the Second Exam grounds.

"Fuck the orders." Anko snarled and she flickered away.

* * *

_ANBU Training Ground Three_

A pair of chunin tried to stop Anko, but she simply knocked both of them out.

She closed her eyes and searched for Naruto's unique chakra signature, and started that way before a hand grabbed her shoulder. Anko pulled a kunai and turned to stab, but a hand grabbed her wrist. Kakashi was behind her, and pair of ANBU were on either side of the kunoichi.

"Don't worry Anko. I'll go get them. Go to the hospital and I'll meet you there." Kakashi put away his book, and looked Anko in the eye.

"Anko, I promise no one will touch a hair on their heads while I'm around." The copy ninja reassured the Snake Mistress. Anko bit her lip so hard that she started bleeding, but nodded and flickered away.

"Come on. Let's go get'em." Kakashi nodded to Yugao and Tenzo and the trio jumped away into the training ground.

* * *

**Reviews are appreciated.**

**What will happen to Naruto and Sasuke now? What will happen to the Suna team protecting them. And most importantly. **

**WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ANKO'S LIFE SAVINGS!**


	10. The Curse Mark

**I don't own Naruto**

**Another Update. **

* * *

_ANBU Training Ground Three_

Kakashi, Yugao, Tenzo homed in on the location of Team Seven, and stiffened when they felt three unknown signatures keeping still over them. Three more were approaching the six immobile genin.

"Pick up the pace." Kakashi ordered.

_With Gaara and Kankuro_

"We know you're there. Come out." Kankuro shouted and three Oto-nin landed on the roof. The bandaged one and the girl looked uncomfortable, but the remaining Oto-nin looked confused.

"Why're you protecting them?" Zaku blinked, and looked down when he felt something around his ankles.

"Unfortunately, the Konoha-nin down there are my friends. I'm not letting you near them." Gaara said in monotone as the three Oto tried in vain to get their legs free. The sand advanced up their bodies until they were buried up to their necks. It stopped when two ANBU and a Konoha jounin landed behind the Suna genin.

"That's enough Gaara-san. We'll take them here." Kakashi ordered. Gaara nodded and allowed the ANBU to knock out the Oto-nin and take them away. Kakashi turned to the Ichibi jinchurikii.

"Where is Team Seven?"

"Downstairs. My nee-san is keeping watch over them. They're safe." Gaara explained.

"Thanks. I'll be taking them with me to the Konoha shinobi hospital. You coming with?"

Gaara nodded and Kakashi jogged downstairs and made a couple clones to pick up the comatose Konoha genin. Temari stayed close to her boyfriend as they reached the roof. Kankuro announced that the area was clear and the four ninja disappeared after the ANBU.

_Hokage's Tower_

Anko was pacing in the courtyard when Kakashi landed next to her.

"Spill it Scarecrow! How are my kids?!"

Kakashi held up a soothing hand.

"They're fine Anko. All three are unconscious, but the Suna team watched their backs. They're all at the hospital as we speak." Kakashi explained as he walked past.

"Where are you going?" Anko was curious.

"Hokage's office."

"Why?"

"Oh something about being a court-martial for interfering in the Chunin Exams and removing six genin without permission." Kakashi shrugged. Anko's eyes widened.

"What the hell Scarecrow?"

"Eh, what's the worst that can happen? They demote me? A fine? I'll just rejoin ANBU." Kakashi eye smiled waved and walked away. Forgetting the copy ninja for a moment Anko flickered away, headed for the hospital.

* * *

_Konoha Shinobi Hospital_

"I can't tell you!" The medic stuttered.

"You'll tell me or you lose your right to children!" Anko shouted as she put a kunai close the med-nin's groin.

"Fine! Third floor! Shinobi ward!" The med-nin's voice was panicked. Anko flashed a feral grin and ran upstairs to find her genin.

Before long she found them. Sakura was just hooked up to an IV since she was unconscious, but Sasuke and Naruto had on breathing apparatus as well as IVs and a ton of monitoring equipment. Anko entered the room as quietly as possible and began twiddling her thumbs, waiting for her genin to wake up. _'You aren't allowed to die you little assholes. If I beat this damn thing so can you'_ Anko gritted her teeth as she stared at the purple chakra coming a point on each of the boys.

* * *

_Naruto's Mindscape_

**"WAKE UP YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" **Kyuubi roared as it smashed snakes by the dozens. His host was lying outside the cage surrounded by said snakes.

**"KIT, IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL GIVE YOU MIGRAINES ALL DAY LONG!"** Kyuubi became slightly amused despite himself. The most powerful of the Bijuu reduced to giving a thirteen year old headaches. Then he got back to smashing snakes

* * *

_Konoha Shinobi Hospital_

Iruka walked in to find Anko staring at her students.

"Anko?"

"What is it Iruka?" The T&I specialist sounded annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" The instructor was surprised to see her here.

"What? Can't I come watch over some of the few people who I care about?"Anko snarled.

"Uh, nothing wrong with it. I was just coming to visit Naruto before the Academy day starts, but I see he's still asleep. Will you let me know if anything new comes up?"

"Sure, Iruka. Now get out, my head hurts." Anko rubbed her temples, not having slept since she had gotten to the hospital. Iruka waved and left the room, and Anko got up and walked over to Naruto leaning over him.

"Come on otouto (little brother), you can beat this thing." Anko whispered to the blonde.

"Sensei?" A weak voice said from behind the jounin. Anko whirled to see Sakura's eyes half open. Anko smiled. A real genuine smile.

"Hi pinky. You're the first to wake up."

"What happened?"

"Orochimaru happened." Anko said the first part with distaste. Sakura's eyes took a sour look.

"Sorry, sensei."

"For what?" Anko was bewildered.

"I was only able to cut his neck." Sakura's shoulders slumped, but she was surprised when Anko put an arm over the Haruno's shoulder.

"Hey, Pinky, you managed to land a hit on a Sannin. You have no idea how proud I am of you. And the pain inducing poison I put on those blades sure caused some pain to the snake I'm sure." Anko grinned.

"So I guess we failed the Second Exam, huh?" Sakura said when Anko separated herself from her student. Anko shrugged.

"Doesn't matter to me. I'm just glad you guys are alright."

Sakura nodded.

"Hey medic! One of my students is awake!" Anko shouted out of the door. A medic-nin walked over a went over Sakura's vitals, giving her a clean bill of health.

"It was just a strike to the neck. You're good to go whenever you want to leave." and the medic left the ninja team alone.

"Hey sensei, I'm going to go get something to eat, you want anything?"

"A couple sticks of dango would be nice, I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday." Anko sat down and resumed her vigil over her remaining students.

"Alright, see ya sensei."

"Yup, bye Pinky."

Sakura disappeared out of the door.

* * *

_Thirty Minutes Later_

Naruto's eyes fluttered open and he looked around. The ceiling tiles of this place were becoming all too familiar. Then he sat straight up and grabbed his right arm. A he looked at his reflection in a window to his right, and saw black lines running over one half of his body, and he felt an intense pain from his right arm.

"Blondie!" a familiar voice shouted and Naruto tensed when someone grabbed him from behind. Then relaxed when he saw purple hair. Anko. He turned and tried to push Anko off of him. As he made contact with her shoulder his right arm exploded in pain. He screamed and grabbed his right arm. Anko jumped back and noticed Naruto clawing at his right arm. The jounin sighed.

"Naruto." Anko put her hand on Naruto's shoulder and was surprised when she saw the tears in his eyes.

"Onee-san." Naruto struggled out and he hugged the woman in front of him. Anko was surprised. No one had hugged her in a very long time. And no one had _ever_ wanted to cry on her shoulder, and it made Anko feel a bit weird, and she struggled a bit.

"It _hurts_ Onee-san!" Naruto sobbed into her coat. Anko's eyes widened in realization. The Curse Mark. Anko's face twisted into one of rage. The snake-teme was hurting one of her best friends, and someone who considered her family, and she couldn't do anything about it. Well almost nothing. No one had been there to help her when she'd gotten hers, and Anko was going to make damn sure that she was here for Naruto and Sasuke.

The jounin hugged Naruto back and allowed him to cry. Anko whispered to her surrogate brother in a warm and comforting voice few had ever heard from the torture specialist.

"Shhh it's alright Naruto. Your onee-san is here. You're alright now."

The medics came in to see what the commotion was, but left when they saw the scene inside.

* * *

Sakura returned before long and found Anko hugging Naruto and whispering to him. The blonde was crying, and Sakura sat down across the room. She couldn't do much to help, but she was going to be here for her teammates.

* * *

**Reviews are appreciated. **

**Yes I know that was out of character for Anko, but I could see her reacting that way to one of her closest friends getting marked by Orochimaru.**


	11. Awake

**Sorry for the delay**

**I don't own Naruto**

**As Always**

**Enjoy :D**

* * *

Anko was called away from the hospital not long after Naruto woke up. Everyone moved out of her path as she stomped her way towards the Hokage's office with murder in her eyes. The tokujo threw open the doors and shouted

"This better be good!" before slamming herself into a wall to wait for a reprimand. It never came. As she looked up Hiruzen Sarutobi was just smoking his pipe.

"Anko, sit down." The kind old man said gently. Anko did as she was told.

"Now then, Anko. As I'm sure you know it's spread through the shinobi ranks that two members of your team have had curse marks sealed on them."

Anko's back straightened.

"So? I have a curse mark, and everyone agrees I'm a damn good kunoichi. Who the hell cares what happens to Naruto or Sasuke? They're _my _genin!" The tokujo snarled. The Hokage's eyes flashed, and the man they called the God of Shinobi came out for a moment.

"Anko, I understand that you're attached the Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, but make no mistake when I say that their lives belong to the village."

Anko looked like she was going to argue, but then submitted.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you, Anko. Now then, as I was saying, it has spread through the ranks that Naruto and Sasuke now have curse marks. Of course with them being on your team this has caused some dissention in some of your peers that are less supportive of you."

Anko looked up, and the Hokage continued.

"In fact the civilian council has called for Naruto's execution."

Here Anko growled and muttered under her breath.

_"But not their precious Uchiha…" _Anko knew that Sasuke despised the favoritism shown to him by the civilian council.

The Hokage chuckled.

"Of course not. They want Sasuke to be placed with Ebisu, and you thrown in prison for disobeying orders and attempting to retrieve Team Anko from ANBU Training Ground Three."

Here Anko interrupted.

"Uh, speaking of Kakashi, Hokage-sama? What's going to happen to him?"

Here the Hokage smiled.

"For what? The last I heard Kakashi left the village immediately after he began his portion of the exams. Something about an emergency mission."

Anko grinned.

"I heard that to Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi smiled as he puffed on his pipe.

"Now then back to Team Anko. I've arranged for you and your team to take a high C-Rank mission that's been sitting around stagnant. A genin team took it, but they came back when they encountered a pair of missing-nin."

Anko was unfazed.

"I'm allowing Team Anko to take this mission on. Meet your client at the front gates at two P.M. tomorrow."

Anko interrupted again.

"Hokage-sama, Sasuke hasn't woken up yet."

Sarutobi nodded.

"I know that. But we _both _know that if he hasn't woken up in the next twelve hours, it means he _won't_ wake up."

Anko nodded.

"I understand Hokage-sama. Is there anything else?"

"Uh, don't tell anyone, but I figured you might want this back. No one could have known Orochimaru was going to attack your team." Sarutobi pushed a paper bag across the table and the four ANBU hidden in the room stifled laughs. Anko picked up her life's savings and bowed, before leaving the room.

* * *

_Konoha Shinobi Hospital_

Naruto's arm was still throbbing, but the pain wasn't nearly as bad as it was when he first woke up. After Anko left for the Hokage's office Naruto had been moved to a private room, and was now having a conversation with his tenant.

_'YO FURBALL!'_

**_'INSOLENT BRAT! I AM THE KYUUBI NO KITSUNE!'_**

_'And I am the current champion of the Ramen Eating Contest of Konoha. You're sealed so right now, my title is better than yours.'_

Kyuubi growled.

**_'Shut up. Now why did you wake me up?'_**

_'Why didn't you warn me Orochimaru was nearby? I thought we had a deal? You pay me rent in the form of chakra. In return I allow you access to my senses.'_

**_'Unfortunately I didn't sense that snake. He must have used some type of jutsu to cover his chakra signature'_**

_'Hey, hey, hey. In case you forgot, Anko-oneesan, and I are the Snake Summoners. Orochimaru is now the summoner of the Raccoons…I didn't even know that the Raccoons have a contract.'_

**_'It's unpopular'_**

_'I can see why. I threw it into a wall and it dispelled.'_

**_'To be fair you were using my chakra at the time.'_**

_'Why are we having a pleasant conversation?'_

**_'Uh, that Suna girl you know is coming. She's radiating so much Killer Intent that I didn't know better I'd think she was angry…sorry you're on your own.'_**

_'Uh, Kyuubi…'_

The fox cut the connection.

Temari burst into the room wielding her fan like a battle axe.

"Temari-chan!" Naruto got that out before the fan smacked his head.

"You attacked Orochimaru?!" Temari shouted.

"Uh…yeah…" Naruto flinched as the Suna kunoichi raised her fan again then opened one eye to look at her rage filled face, and a shiver ran up his spine seeing his twitching eye and sadistic smile.

"Oh good thing you flinched. Until you did that I thought you were suicidal, you idiot!" Temari brought the fan down on his head again.

"Why are you so angry?" Naruto blinked.

"You scared the hell out of me!" Temari shouted. They turned when a nurse closed the door, but Temari looked back at her boyfriend and talked more quiet.

"Why'd you attack him…you had to know you had no chance…"

Naruto nodded, and spoke softly.

"He hurt someone I care about. A lot. More than you or I can possibly imagine. And I _will_ kill him for what he did." Some steel entered Naruto's voice at the end. Temari sighed.

"Well…you're alright…that's what counts. How are Sasuke and Sakura?"

"Sakura woke up before I did. Sasuke, as far as I know, is still unconscious." Naruto looked out of the window next to his bed.

"You know…sometimes I wonder. Why do we do this?"

"Do what?" Temari pulled up a chair and put her hand next to Naruto's.

"Why do we hurt each other like this? Orochimaru did something to me and Sasuke. I think he did it _just_ to torture Anko-onee-san." Naruto was solemn.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, Orochimaru is an expert on sealing. And he has this seal called the Cursed Seal of Heaven, more commonly known simply as the Curse Mark. He uses it to control or torture someone. Now, I can see him marking Sasuke since Sasuke craves power. It will potentially allow Orochimaru to control Sasuke. Not directly. But it might influence his behavior. But why would he mark _me_. There's no point. I don't crave power, so I can't be controlled by the Mark. The only purpose it serves is to cause me pain. That's all it does. Physical and mental torture."

"So all day and all night…" Temari started. She was a bit distressed about that.

"No not at all. I mean look at Anko-onee-san. She's happy almost all the time…in her own twisted way…" Naruto shrugged.

"Naruto no offense, but Anko is teetering on the edge of insanity…" Temari deadpanned.

"I'm not teetering on the edge of insanity!" Anko interrupted as she opened the door. Temari grinned sheepishly. Naruto shook his head.

"No you're not. You're bat shit insane…" Naruto grinned when Anko growled a warning at him.

"Just because you're in a hospital doesn't mean I can't hurt you…"

Then Naruto's sensei grinned.

"How're you feelin'"

"Better. The pain's mostly gone now. It's just this constant throb now. Not really painful, but…ugh…I can't describe it."

Anko nodded.

"That'll be there the majority of the time. You get used to it. I bring gifts, by the way." Anko sat a box of takeout from Ichiraku Ramen on the table next to Naruto's bed.

"Sensei, have I ever told you how awesome you are?"

"You have. But it wouldn't hurt to say it again."

"To bad. Not going to inflate your ego." Naruto and Anko laughed and Temari shook her head.

_'It's as if it didn't happen…' _Temari reflected as she watched the two people who had such similar childhoods laugh and carry on. Just then Sakura ran in panting. The Haruno was stammering, and Anko could only pick out the words Sasuke, awake, and wrong.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Pinkie. What's up?" Anko stood up.

"Sasuke, he's awake, but something's wrong."

Realization crossed Anko's face and she cursed.

"Temari you stay here and keep an eye on Naruto. Sakura go find an ANBU, and tell them I need their help." Then she bolted out of the room.

* * *

When Anko found Sasuke he was giggling like a lunatic and had black flame like marks covering half of his body. The Uchiha was just standing in his hospital room.

_'Oh shit. He already activated it…'_

"Sasuke!" Anko shouted in an attempt to get him to come out of the Curse Mark's trance. He just stopped laughing and stared at her. Anko took one step towards him and Sasuke snapped. The Uchiha lunged at Anko who grabbed his arm and used the Uchiha's weight against to throw him against a wall.

"Sorry, Sasuke." Anko apologized before knocking out the boy with a quick jab to a pressure point.

Cat and Tiger showed up moments later.

"What happened?" Tiger asked as Anko put Sasuke back into his bed.

"He activated the Curse Mark…" Anko's voice was soft. The jounin turned back to the two ANBU. Her demeanor had shifted to that of a consummate professional.

"Cat, see if you can find Kakashi or Jiraiya-sama. Either one will do, but tell them to get over here ASAP. Tiger go tell security to clear a room in the basement. I'll stay here and watch Sasuke." Anko leaned against the wall, and toyed with the flap on her shuriken holster. As Yugao left the room she couldn't help but think that Anko looked like she wanted to kill something small.

* * *

_Konoha Shinobi Hospital Basement_

_Half an hour later_

Anko stood off to the side as Kakashi and Jiraiya prepared the seals for Naruto's and Sasuke's Curse Marks. As luck would have both perverts had been at Dangoya. As soon as Yugao explained what was wrong they had both made their way to the scene as quickly as possible.

Naruto was sitting in lotus position, while Sasuke was in a heap since he was still unconscious.

"Alright, as I explained before. This technique is quick, but the pain is enough to send someone into unconsciousness. The seal itself only works if you want it to. It can't stop the Curse Mark from influencing you if you use the Curse Mark of your own free will." Kakashi explained to Naruto as the blonde opened one eye.

"Got it. Do we do it now?"

"It'd be best." Kakashi nodded.

"Well then let's get to it." Naruto grinned, but his eyes showed a bit of uncertainty when he looked at Anko. The tokujo grinned and gave the blonde a thumbs up. Thus reassured Naruto turned back to Jiraiya, who would be performing the sealing. The sannin nodded and put his hands on the seal.

"Evil Sealing Method! Seal!"

Naruto screamed in pain as the seal array leapt from the floor and began to from a circle around his Curse Mark. As the final kanji slid into the seal, Naruto slumped. Anko walked over and knelt next to Jiraiya as the sannin checked the blonde's vitals.

"His heartbeat is steady Anko. He'll be fine." Jiraiya assuaged the worry in Anko's eyes. He knew better than most how Anko was treated upon her return to Konoha, but he'd been powerless to step in. Jiraiya also knew that Anko grew extremely attached to anyone who she cared about.

_'Perfectly understandable, Anko.' _Jiraiya thought as he laid Naruto on his back and allowed Kakashi to pick up the blonde.

"Go ahead and take him back to his room, Kakashi. Anko are you going with him? I have to wait for Sasuke to wake up before I can apply the seal."

The jounin shook her head.

"Like you said, Naruto's fine. Besides his head is even harder than mine. I'm more worried about Sasuke. He may already be addicted to the Mark's power."

"Well let's hope not." Jiraiya mused darkly. Anko leaned up against the wall once again as the two Konoha shinobi waited for the last loyal Uchiha to wake up.

_Naruto's Hospital Room_

Temari was sitting in a chair tapping her foot, when Kakashi came in carrying her boyfriend.

"Is he alright?" Temari's voice was full of worry.

"He's ok. The sealing is done, and now Jiraiya-sama is just waiting for Sasuke to wake up. Naruto will have no trouble keeping his Curse Mark in check. His willpower is through the roof, and Anko will pound him into the ground if he even thinks of using it." Kakashi put Naruto in bed, and covered him.

"Naruto-kun won't use it." Temari stated firmly. The copy ninja eye smiled at her.

"Oh, I know that. I'm not worried in the least about Naruto using his Mark's powers. Now if you'll excuse me, I sense a cat stuck in a tree." And with that the masked shinobi leapt out of the window.

"What kind of excuse was that…" Temari looked at Kakashi's disappearing form with bored eyes.

_Yamanaka Flowers_

Sakura was back in her shinobi gear when she entered the flower shop. The Haruno had her back to the counter as she looked for separate flowers for her teammates.

"Ha! I heard you failed the second exam Billboard Brow!" Ino taunted from behind the counter. Inwardly grinning sadistically in a form way to similar to Anko's for comfort, Sakura sounded upset on the outside.

"Yeah, what is a good flower for a grave?"

Ino sounded surprised.

"Grave? Who are you visiting?"

Willing tears into her eyes, Sakura turned to the Yamanaka.

"Don't you know why Team Anko failed the second exam?"

"No. I heard you were beaten up by a Kusa-nin." Ino sounded uncertain and realization dawned.

"When two members of your team are KIA, you can't continue…" Sakura faked a sob.

"Oh my god Sakura! I'm so…" Ino blanched when Sakura burst into laughter.

"Oh that was to good!" Sakura held her sides, as a vein in Ino's head grew and Inoichi walked into the front door of the shop, having heard it all.

"Haruno-san, you're way too much like your sensei…" Inoichi shook his head as he went upstairs to the Yamanaka home.

"That wasn't funny Billboard Brow!" Ino raged. Sakura just giggled some more, and placed a pair of daffodils on the counter for Ino to ring up.

"Sorry, couldn't pass up the chance." Sakura handed over the ryo, and picked up the flowers before waving goodbye and leaving the shop. Once again Inoichi, listening from the stairs, reflected on how much like Anko those three were becoming.

* * *

**Review please**


	12. Replacment

**I don't own Naruto.**

**As Always**

**Enjoy :D**

* * *

When Anko was taking Sasuke to his room she peered in on Naruto to make sure he was alright. She smiled a little bit at what she found. Temari was next to his bed dozing with her head on his hand.

"Congratulations, Blondie. I think you found a keeper." Anko grinned and walked off towards the room that Sasuke had been assigned. A message had come from the Hokage detailing that Anko was supposed to watch over Sasuke while he was asleep.

_'I wonder what we'll do for a fourth team member. Sakura and I are good to go. Naruto is a stamina freak so he'll be fine by the time we need to leave tomorrow, but Sasuke is going to have problems with his Mark since he activated it. We'll probably have to leave him here.'_

Anko covered Sasuke when she sat him in a bed, and then sat in a chair. She began playing with the cover of her kunai holster and continued thinking.

_'Normally I don't think Hokage-sama would let us take a mission with a man down, but we're causing unrest, so we have to leave regardless. The reserves are getting called up for defense, so we can't drag an older chunin or genin out of the mothballs.'_

Anko looked up and let her hand touch the handle of a kunai when Sasuke groaned. The Uchiha just turned and laid on his side, before becoming silent once more. Anko went back to her thoughts.

_'Maybe Gai could lend us one of his…if he wants to give us Bushy Brows he can go to hell; I don't need Gai's mini-me on an escort. That Hyuuga of his has a damn redwood oak up his ass, so I wouldn't want him even if he wasn't in the finals. Panda girl wouldn't be too bad to have though. The rest of the rookies are a no go as well. They'll either be training for the finals, or turn me down because of Naruto. None of the Suna team either. They'll be readying themselves for the defense. Ugh…alright, let me find send a messenger for Gai.'_

Anko walked to the door and poked her head into the hallway. A nondescript genin walked by.

"Hey, kid. Blue shirt!"

The confused teen turned around.

"I'll give you 10 ryo to go find Gai."

The genin blinked.

"Go find the weirdo in green spandex. The big one not the little one."

The genin snatched the bill Anko proffered and ran off down the hall.

Anko went back to her seat and sat down. The tokujo rubbed her eyes and yawned.

_'Wow…it's been a while since I've felt this tired…I guess two sleepless nights will do that for ya.'_

Anko's eyelids drooped, and the jounin unsuccessfully tried to stay awake.

* * *

Ten minutes later Gai burst in.

"ANKO-SAN! HOW ARE YOU?"

A dozing Anko fell out of her chair and face planted the wall. When she got to her feet, her eye was twitching and she was gripping a kunai. A sadistic grin was on her face. Of course Konoha's Green Beast noticed none of these things.

"I'm fine, Gai."

"GOOD TO KNOW YOUR YOUTH STILL BURNS BRIGHTLY!"

"Gai, quiet down, one of my students in injured and sleeping."

Gai immediately winced. His voice came out at a human level when he spoke next.

"I apologize, Anko-san. How are Sasuke-san and Naruto-san?"

"That's part of the reason I called you here. The marks have been sealed, but Naruto is dealing with it much better than Naruto. Of course he has a girlfriend to help him with that. Sasuke…well…he's already activated his and he went nuts when he woke up. I subdued him and he's been unconscious ever since. This is where things get unfortunate. My team has a High-C and possibly B-Rank mission tomorrow."

"And you're short a team member." Gai finished

"Yeah. I wanted to know if I could borrow Panda."

"Panda?"

"Tenten."

Gai became thoughtful.

"On one condition."

"That being?" Anko was suspicious.

"That she gets a bit of taijutsu training during downtime."

Anko blinked.

"Why don't you teach her?"

"The Strong Fist isn't suited to her. I was hoping you'd teach her Hebi style."

Now Orochimaru's student narrowed her eyes.

"I'm about to teach my students taijutsu as well, so it's a deal, but you know this will be long term for her?"

Gai nodded.

"Of course. I will ask Tenten to come here when our team convenes at our training ground one hour from thirty minutes ago."

"Thanks, Gai."

"It is a pleasure, to assist a comrade as youthful as yourself Anko-san!" Gai did his "Nice Gai" pose and left the room. Anko grumbled about annoying exercise maniacs and sat back down to get some rest before their mission tomorrow.

* * *

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. The blonde felt a weight on his hand. He looked at it and saw Temari sleeping with her head on his hand. The Konoha shinobi ran his hand through her hair and smiled when she mumbled something and gripped his hand. A sly grin came to Naruto's face and he put his mouth next to Temari's ear, and...

"HEY TEMARI WAKE UP!"

The Suna kunoichi sat straight up. As a result her head bashed Naruto's and the Konoha shinobi flew back onto the bed with a nosebleed. Temari stood up and thrust an accusatory finger at her fellow blonde.

"Jerk off!"

Naruto was holding his bleeding while Kyuubi healed it, and nodded with a grin. Temari sighed in exasperation.

"You're lucky you're cavity inducing when you aren't being a clone of your sensei."

Naruto wiped the last of the blood off of his face and smiled a little wider.

"I was going more for overwhelmingly manly or something like that, but cavity inducing works."

Temari sat back down in her chair.

"So how do you feel?"

The marked blonde shrugged.

"That throb is still there, but it's not as severe. I guess Jiraiya's seal worked. Well then…" Naruto swung his legs off of the bed and put his feet on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Temari was on her feet.

"The hospital is boring." Naruto licked his lips as he carefully removed the IV from his right arm.

_'I'm glad Anko-onee-san made me, Sakura, and Sasuke get that basic first aid training'_

"Naruto! You just got a torture seal…um…sealed. You can't go anywhere yet!" The blonde's girlfriend gave him a bored look.

"Don't worry, you can come to, so I'll have someone to watch me. If I die you can say I told you so."

Temari just rolled her eyes.

Naruto was on his feet, and looked around the room. His shinobi outfit was in a chair folded up. He pulled a curtain, and came back out in his gear.

"Ready to go?" Naruto opened a window, and put his booted foot on the sill. Temari sighed, and nodded.

"Let's go."

Both of them disappeared out of the window. Ten minutes later a nurse walked in to check on Naruto and she sighed and rolled her eyes. The hospital staff were all used to shinobi checking themselves out by now.

* * *

_With Naruto and Temari_

"Uzumaki!" an enraged ANBU shouted as Naruto and his girlfriend fled from the six elites over the rooftops.

"Was it really a good idea to put itching powder in their uniforms and super glue in their masks?" Temari jumped over an alley.

"Nope, but it's pretty damn funny." Naruto laughed as he ducked underneath a clothesline.

"Hey Temari watch this."

Six pairs of clones appeared, half transformed into Temari and they and fled in different directions.

"This is where things get interesting." Naruto grinned. The ANBU made their own clones and they went after the others. No one noticed one pair of clones drop into an alleyway and hide.

Naruto and Temari jumped into someone's window, ran by, an angry cook and down some steps. Heavy footsteps signaled the ANBU's arrival in the building. Temari and Naruto were in the street and sprinting through a crowd. Temari was surprised to find that she was laughing. The duo fled into a crowd of villagers.

"Hey, transform!" Naruto grinned. Temari nodded and they both turned into a pair of nondescript Konoha citizens. They almost burst out laughing when they walked by the ANBU and all six elite shinobi were groaning and scratching at points where the itching powder had come into contact with their bodies.

"Not again…" A deer masked ANBU sighed.

"Well…what now." Dragon itched her arms

_'Damn itching powder. We'll get that little brat someday.'_

"Let's go see the medics so we can get these masks off…" Weasel complained.

"How in the hell did he do that?" Hawk said dumbly.

"He snuck into our barracks…"

"No not that…that." Hawk pointed up at the Hokage Monument at the same time as he scratched the back of his head. The Hokage's faces, once again, had graffiti all over them. Underneath them was written

_'NARUTO AND TEMARI WERE HERE'_

The ANBU turned around when a female villager shouted out in anger.

"I was not!"

They all narrowed their eyes and the two villagers grimaced in unison.

"Crap…"

Two ANBU pulled out handcuffs and slapped them on the villagers. The two "villagers" burst into smoke and Temari and Naruto were revealed.

"Temari of the Desert, Naruto Uzumaki, you are under…"

"Sorry guys, I need these two. We got a mission." Anko grinned as she landed behind the two genin.

"Saved by the sensei." Naruto muttered.

The ANBU squad leader sighed and took the cuffs off.

"We'll get you next time Naruto." Hawk said stiffly.

"Whatever floats your boat losers." Naruto grinned as he, Temari, and Anko disappeared. The villagers gathered around would have been surprised if the ANBU hadn't been wearing their masks. Behind the standard issue mask, each and every ANBU was smiling.

* * *

"Thanks, Anko-san." Temari nodded to Anko.

"Well it wasn't your fault that moron dragged you into one of his schemes." The jounin grinned. Naruto grumbled about Anko calling him a moron.

"Hey Temari, Naruto, and I got business, so we'll see ya later." Anko nodded.

Temari nodded.

"Bye Naruto-kun."

"See ya Temari-chan."

Temari disappeared and Naruto followed his sensei towards Training Ground Forty-Four.

* * *

Sakura was standing by the entrance to the Forest of Death when Naruto and Anko showed up. A girl with her hair in two buns was sitting on top of the booth next to the entrance swinging her legs back and forth in a carefree manner.

Sakura was in her usual gear, but now a red cross was on one of her vest pockets signifying she had medic training.

"Hey, Sakura! What's with the medical corps insignia?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I've been taking lessons in my off time. Anko-sensei recommended me for it when we first became a team. It's the same with Sasuke-kun. He's training with some guy named Kakashi. Hey, Anko-sensei is teaching you snake jutsu, we have to have some cool stuff to right?" Sakura smiled. Naruto shrugged. Suddenly the girl in a pink shirt sprinted over and glomped Naruto. They both fell to the ground.

"What the hell?" Anko frowned and her eyebrows disappeared behind her headband.

"Naru-kun!"

Naruto suddenly grinned and hugged the girl back.

"Ten-chan!"

Now Sakura and Anko were confused before, but now they were dumbstruck.

"Hey…Panda…" Anko nudged the girl with the tip of her foot.

Naruto and Tenten were suddenly self conscious and they got up and dusted themselves off.

"Ok…What. The hell. Was that?" Sakura tapped her foot. Naruto had a girlfriend and Temari's fellow female was not amused by this display in front of her.

"Guys, this is Tenten! We were at our orphanage together!"

"Yeah!" Tenten nodded with a smile.

"Well what happened? Last I remember Naruto didn't really hang out with anyone."

Tenten's smile disappeared.

"When he was seven Naruto got kicked out of the orphanage. I wanted to go with him, but he made me stay."

Anko frowned.

"_Made_ you stay?" The four ninja walked back towards the booth.

"He tied me to a chair, and wouldn't let me out until I agreed to go back to the orphanage," Tenten sat back down on her perch. ", I went out to look for him every day for a while, but he avoided me."

"Why's that?" Sakura looked at a frowning Naruto.

"If you're despised, anyone you hang out with is going to be thrown in the same boat with you. Ten-chan was my first friend, so I didn't want to put her in that predicament. Anko-onee-san can tell you the same thing."

"Awwwwww!" Sakura squealed.

"Yeah, that's sweet and all, Naruto, but you better explain to your girlfriend why you're letting girls jump all over you." Anko grinned.

"We don't see each other that way. We're more like brother and sister." Tenten explained.

"Too late, I'm his big sister." Anko needled the genin.

"I was here first!" Tenten shouted.

"You can share the little blonde idiot. What's this all about?" Sakura tapped her foot impatiently

The three genin gathered around Anko and the jounin began explaining the mission.

"We have a high-C rank mission to the Land of Waves tomorrow. Simple escort. We take a bridge builder there, and guard him while he builds the bridge. It's a rush job, the client has been waiting around for weeks. We can't wait for Sasuke to get out of the hospital so Tenten is taking his spot for the time being."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"I'll also be teaching all of you my taijutsu during this trip. It'll be up to you how much of it you want to learn, but you're all learning the basics, including you Panda." Anko leaned against the chain link fence separating the forest from the village. Tenten and Naruto seemed excited, but Sakura looked dismayed.

"Sensei, I don't have the physical ability for bouts of taijutsu." Sakura pointed out. Anko smirked.

"That's the beauty of Hebi Style. It focuses on quick counterpunches and letting your enemies wear themselves out as you take advantage of their weaknesses. You don't have to wear yourself out. In fact Bubblegum, if you work on your endurance you'd be perfect for my taijutsu."

"What about me Anko-sensei? I have physical endurance and strength, but I'm pretty slow." Naruto sat on the ground and doodled in the dirt.

"I can help you with that." Tenten pulled out a scroll, and summoned a pair of blocks wrapped in cloth, as well as a vest. Anko seemed satisfied, but Sakura and Naruto were curious.

"What are those?"

Tenten smiled.

"Chakra weights. My whole team wears them. These are my spares." Tenten held them up.

"Sakura you can wear the vest when you're training. It'll help with your endurance. Naru-kun put these on."

The pink clad girl tossed the weights like they were nothing. Naruto caught them and almost got dragged to the ground.

"Holy crap! You wear these 24/7?" Naruto was incredulous. Tenten shook her head.

"Mine are double that weight. You ought to see my teammate's, his make craters when he drops them."

Anko chuckled at Sakura's and Naruto's faces.

"Yeah Bushy Brow and Mega-Brows are kind of nuts about their weight training. Alright, back to business. I'm going to go let Hokage-sama know we solved our manpower problem. Meet at the mission office tomorrow at nine o'clock. Later." Anko disappeared with a shunshin and the three genin were left standing around.

"Hey I have to go talk to my sensei at the hospital. It was nice meeting you Tenten-san. See ya Naruto." Sakura waved and left as well.

"Wanna go catch up, Ten-chan?"

Tenten grinned and nodded. The duo of shinobi concentrated chakra in their feet and jumped away.

* * *

Temari was walking around the village in boredom when you saw Naruto at Ichiraku Ramen with a girl she didn't know.

_'Oh no you don't Uzumaki!' _Temari's eye twitched. Temari pulled up the flap and walked into the ramen stand.

"Hey there, Temari." Teuchi waved.

"Hi Temari-chan! Hey come here I want you to meet someone." Naruto grinned and waved the Suna kunoichi over.

"Temari-chan this is Tenten-chan, she was my first friend. Ten-chan this is Temari-chan my girlfriend."

The two kunoichi sized each other up immediately.

"Hey, Naruto I think I saw a woman who needed help with her groceries you should go help her out." Temari pointed down the street. Naruto shook his head.

"Temari-chan, you don't have to get possessive, Ten-chan is more like a sister." Naruto put his arm around Temari. Tenten nodded.

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about me Temari-san."

Naruto went to the other side of the stand to speak to Ayame, and Tenten scooted closer to Temari.

"Hurt my little brother and you die." Tenten threatened in a low growl. Temari laughed.

"Hey, same thing to you, I won't hurt him, I promise."

Tenten and Temari smiled at each other. The two women had come to an understanding.

* * *

_Next Morning_

_Mission Office_

Naruto, Sakura, and Anko were all in their shinobi gear. Anko fidgeted with her jounin vest.

"I hate this monkey suit." The twenty-four year old complained to her team.

"Then why do you wear it?" Naruto leaned against the wall.

"I'm not risking my trench coat getting destroyed…" Anko looked at the blonde like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Tenten was sitting on the floor and shook her head. The pink kunoichi had, at Anko's and Naruto's urgings traded her sandals for a pair of Team Anko's custom combat boots and traded the pink Chinese blouse for a black tank top. She kept the same green pants though.

"You guys are a lot less formal than my team."

Sakura shrugged.

"Why be all stuffy when we know each other better our extended family?"

Tenten nodded in consent.

"True."

The Hokage cleared his throat and the four shinobi looked at him. Iruka pointed to the door.

"Your client is here."

A man wearing a straw hat and sleeveless shirt walked in.

"Another team of kids? How are these ones going to be any less useless than the first squad?" Tazuna complained. Anko turned to the bridge builder.

"Hey, jerk off, Hokage-sama is letting you have a B-Rank mission for C-Rank pay. Back off. Oh, and if you put my team down again I'll break your legs." Anko smiled sweetly.

"Meet us at the gate in an hour." Then the jounin left with the three genin in tow. Tazuna looked at the Hiruzen and Iruka in horror.

"She was joking right?"

Iruka stifled a laugh and shook his head.

"Sakura, their medic, could just heal them up, so yeah, Anko might break your legs if you offend her again."

Nodding his goodbyes to Hiruzen and Iruka, Tazuna left the room mumbling about getting killed by his guards.

* * *

_Konoha Front Gate_

Team Anko was leaning against the large wooden gate when Tazuna showed up. Anko smiled and cracked her knuckles. Tazuna looked at Tenten, thinking she was the normal person of the team. Said kunoichi smiled and unsealed a hammer and pointed it at his kneecap. Sakura was chatting with Izumo, and Naruto was standing alone off to the side.

"Alright, let's go!" Anko made a hand signal and Team Anko moved out of the gate.

"Naruto-kun, wait a sec!"

Team Anko turned to see Temari running up to them. The Suna kunoichi stopped in front on Naruto.

"I wanted to say good luck." Temari hugged Naruto. Naruto hugged his girlfriend back.

"Thanks, Temari-chan. I'll be back before you know it."

Temari was silent for a second. Naruto opened his mouth to talk, but Temari interrupted him by kissing him full on the lips. Naruto stood star struck.

"Be safe." Then the Suna kunoichi waved to the rest of Team Anko before walking away back into Konoha. Naruto grinned and followed a smirking Anko, an annoyed Sakura, and a slightly amused Tenten out of Konoha and towards the Land of Waves.

* * *

**Review Please?**


	13. Waves

**I don't own Naruto.**

**As Always **

**Enjoy :D**

* * *

_Middle of Nowhere_

_Between Konoha and the Land of Waves._

"Anko-sensei! Why is it that Tazuna has to hire us? Doesn't the Land of Waves have its own ninja?" Sakura was reading a medical ninjutsu book as she walked.

"Nope. The Land of Waves has some samurai, but they're out of practice and there aren't many of them."

Naruto spoke up.

"So does that make us more badass than them?"

"Indeed it does, Blondie. Indeed it does."

Tazuna walked in silence as the shinobi around him joked and needled each other. He wanted to speak up in defense of the Land of Waves, but the threat of getting his legs broken was still in the air. So he decided to occupy himself by watching Tenten juggle kunai while walking.

"Well when you're up against Gato, I guess you'd have to hire some ninja right? I mean the guy _does _have a private army working for him." The Weapons Mistress shrugged.

Naruto nodded.

"And with money, come missing-nin as the Old Drunk there realized. Hey, Old Drunk, what rank were the guys who attacked you?"

Tazuna shrugged.

"I don't know. They were pretty young, but the other team leader said something about them being chunin. They didn't seem like much of a threat there were four of them, and the squad leader finished them quick."

As they walked everyone in Team Anko noticed a puddle by the side of the road. Anko did a subtle hand signal and Tenten took out a kunai with a paper bomb attached.

"Tazuna-san want to see something cool?"

Tazuna seemed bewildered, but nodded.

Tenten channeled chakra into the bomb and dropped the kunai, along with the bomb, into the puddle as she walked past. It exploded and Tazuna gaped as a couple pieces of human being came out of the puddle. Team Anko just kept walking, and Tazuna hurried to catch up, now convinced that he had good guards.

* * *

_Konoha Shinobi Hospital_

Sasuke's eyes fluttered open. The rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor and the smell of antiseptic told him he was in a hospital. The Uchiha sat up and looked around. A slight light distortion in the corner told Sasuke that at least one shinobi was in the room with him. More likely than not ANBU. A wave of pain hit Sasuke and he clutched the right side of his head as the memories of the last day hit him like a ton of bricks. Sasuke's eyes widened as he remember the last time he awoke.

_'I…attacked…Anko-sensei…'_

Was he still on Team Seven? Did Anko still want him as a student? Did Naruto and Sakura still want to…associate with him?

Sasuke grimaced.

In the time he'd been with Team Seven he had found himself getting more and more comfortable around them.

_FLASHBACK_

_The sun was setting over Konoha and Sasuke was punching a log attempting to get his speed in his taijutsu up._

_"Hey, teme!"_

_Sasuke turned away from the log to see Naruto strolling over with a slight wave. A small smile crossed the Uchiha's face. This was something they kept separate from their team training. _

_"Dobe." Was all Sasuke returned. With no further words the two ninja started out with taijutsu, and sparred late into the night._

_FLASHBACK END_

Speaking with Anko-sensei about his revenge.

_FLASHBACK_

_Sasuke was sitting on a tree in the Forest of Death. He and Naruto had gotten into an argument about Sasuke copying his jutsu once he unlocked his Sharingan. Naruto and Sasuke had both stormed off in different directions. _

_"Sasuke."_

_Sasuke looked up to see Anko sitting on a branch above him. Her usual goofy grin was gone, replaced with a frown._

_"Anko-sensei."_

_"Look, Sasuke. I know how much you want to kill Itachi, but remember that talk during your genin test?"_

_Sasuke nodded._

_"Repeat back to me the gist of it."_

_Sasuke sighed._

_"That you, Naruto, and Sakura are my friends. When the time came you'd help me kill Itachi."_

_"Exactly. Now then. How are you achieving your skills right now?"_

_"I'm training whenever I get the time…"_

_Anko nodded again._

_"Bingo. Now then how hard do you work for a new jutsu?"_

_"Really hard. I study fire style scrolls everyday…"_

_"Mhm. Now then. How is Naruto different from you?"_

_Sasuke frowned. _

_"He isn't different. He works as hard as I do. He's very dedicated…"_

_Anko nodded._

_"Now put yourself in his shoes. You've just worked two months to get a B-Rank lightning style jutsu down, but all of a sudden Naruto walks up and accomplishes the same thing because you worked hard all day every day for sixty days."_

_Sasuke groaned. He saw exactly where she was going with this._

_"Sasuke. I'm not saying to _not_ use your Sharingan when you get it. It's a great ability. Probably the best dojutsu out there. I'm saying that you shouldn't use it to steal your friends' hard work."_

_Sasuke groaned again._

_"But how else am I going to get strong enough to kill Itachi?"_

_Anko dropped down and bopped him on the top of his head._

_"Like everyone else. Ask for help. You have Naruto, Sakura, and the most awesome sensei to ever walk the shinobi nations, so don't fret Emo. We'll fuck up Itachi together eventually."_

_Anko disappeared in a shunshin, and left Sasuke thinking. _

_FLASHBACK END_

Sasuke grimaced. He'd done it again. Done something rash in exchange for power. And this time he'd almost hurt someone.

"Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke came out of his thoughts and saw an ANBU in a Cat mask standing in the room with him. He noticed that Cat's hand was close to her kunai holster.

"Yes?"

"Are you in control of yourself?"

Sasuke nodded dumbly.

"Where's my team?"

The ANBU went back to the corner and crouched as she spoke.

"They left on a mission yesterday morning."

Sasuke's shoulders slumped. They had already given up on him.

"They haven't abandoned you if that's what you're thinking."

Sasuke looked up expecting to find Cat, but instead was met with the shimmer of her camouflage jutsu.

"The client couldn't wait. Anko and Sakura checked on you whenever they could. Naruto was bed ridden, so…"

"When did he wake up?"

The shimmer moved and seemed to be shrugging.

"Yesterday around noon. Six hours after he was marked. You woke up half an hour after him."

Sasuke nodded somberly remembering the sheer power he'd felt when the Curse Mark activated.

"Jiraiya-sama and Kakashi put a counter-seal over the Curse Mark, so you'll be able to use chakra without it interfering, but it all depends on your willpower. If you want to use the Curse Mark it will answer your call."

Sasuke didn't answer and the hospital room was silent.

* * *

_Land of Waves_

Anko let out a low whistle when she saw the massive bridge.

"Now _that_ is a bridge, boys and girls." The sensei said to the shocked faces of the genin. Suddenly Naruto got a mischievous smirk.

"Yeah, you compensating for something ya Old Drunk?"

Tazuna grunted, and the ninjas shook their head. Before long the boatman dropped them off and they were on their way to Tazuna's home. Naruto took the lead, but suddenly stopped. Anko held up a fist signaling for everyone to stop, and Naruto threw three kunai into the bushes. There was a cry of pain, and Naruto, along with Sakura, stormed into the bushes.

"Anything?" Anko called out with her hand on her kunai holster.

"There's some blood spatter." Sakura shouted back. Anko nodded to Tenten and they both pulled out kunai. Naruto and Sakura came back out with kunai of their own.

"Alright guys. Sakura, you keep close to the bridge builder and watch his ass. Tenten and Naruto take point and be ready for anything. I'll move in between you guys as needed." Anko handed out the orders, and the genin nodded. Everyone put away their kunai before moving forward. Much more alert this time.

"Get down!" Anko shouted and every dropped, Sakura dragging Tazuna down. A massive sword flew over their heads and embedded itself in a tree. Seconds later a masked, shirtless man was standing on the hilt.

"Anko Mitarashi, eh? I guess I should have expected your genin to be well trained." His gravelly voice came to Team Anko. Tenten and Naruto both had kunai out and were in a defensive posture.

"Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist, huh? This is gonna be fun." Anko grinned then got serious once more.

"Panda, Blondie, you guys fall back and protect the bridge builder with Pinkie. No offense, but this guy is out of your league."

Tenten and Naruto nodded before falling back next to Sakura. Anko took their place.

Zabuza put up one hand sign and murmured.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu."

Mist rolled in, and the genin lost sight of the jounin. Anko's came through to them though.

"Blondie, you know what to do."

Naruto nodded to no one, and went through some hand signs in unison with Anko.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Both shinobi summoned a snake. Naruto hunched over to talk to the pit viper.

"I need you to find the guy with the big ass sword. Don't hurt the guy that smells like sake or the three teenagers around him. Everyone else in the area is fair game."

The snake nodded and slithered off into the mist. Anko's did the same from her position.

Zabuza's voice rolled over to them.

"Ah, very good, summons that use the infrared spectrum. This is getting exciting." The three genin threw three kunai at the voice, but the sound of the knives impacting a tree was heard. A scream of pain was heard. Thinking that Zabuza was now disabled Anko concentrated her chakra and forced it out, making the mist move away. Zabuza stood unharmed on the water, but his eyes were focused on where the scream came from.

"Haku!"

A masked shinobi came out holding his leg. A purple python slithered out after him, and almost clamped down on his ankle. The python then de-summoned. Zabuza flickered and put himself in between Anko and Haku. Haku fell unconscious and Zabuza growled.  
"You'll pay for that…"

Anko just blinked.

"How'd you and a hunter-nin sink to working for Gato?"

Zabuza snarled once more.

"My rebellion against the Mizukage failed."

Anko frowned.

"So you go work for a guy who is oppressing another country?"

"I have to put our wellbeing over some people I don't know. We don't like it, but it staves off the hunter-nin."

Anko nodded from behind her kunai.

"I can understand that. But still…_Gato_?"

Zabuza shrugged.

"No village would take the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

Anko seemed to ponder this.

"Enough talk. The bridge builder there has to die." Zabuza pulled Kubikiri Houcho from the dirt next to him and swung it over his shoulder. The zanbatou went flying through the air again. Anko predicted its path and threw a handful of kunai at where Zabuza would have to appear to grab the grip again. Instead the Demon of the Hidden Mist landed on the blade in midair and grabbed the hilt before swinging it down like a guillotine at the genin. Sakura knocked Tazuna out of the way and Tenten dodged. Naruto grabbed his former crush before dodging as well.

"Striking Shadow Snakes!" Naruto thrust out his arm and several snakes flew from his sleeve. Zabuza lopped the heads off of the summons and landed on the ground facing Naruto. Naruto got out two kunai and prepared to defend himself when twelve shuriken flew from behind Zabuza and the missing-nin was forced to block Tenten's attack. He thrust his zanbatou into the ground and stood on it right before snakes burst out of the ground. Anko cursed out loud that he had dodged her attack and got even more profane when Zabuza latched onto his zanbatou one more time and decided to go for broke. The missing-nin appeared in front of Sakura, who was shielding Tazuna. Just as Kubikiri Houcho began its descent into Sakura's torso, it stopped. The missing-nin used his zanbatou as a launch point and kicked Sakura in the chest. Then Zabuza looked up to see snakes wrapped in the hole at the top of his blade. Smirking, and cursing at the same time, the missing-nin once again cut the snakes in half, this time with a kunai. He turned to kill Tazuna and found the pink haired girl on her feet once again trying to move the petrified bridge builder. Zabuza shook his head at the bridge builder and that a young, promising, kunoichi would lose her life for said bridge builder. He began to throw a handful of shuriken when more shuriken came from Tenten. Naruto was going through some hand signs for a jutsu, but Zabuza couldn't see Anko.

_'Where'd Mitarashi disappear to?'_

Naruto shouted.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" Naruto thrust out his palm, and a blast of wind hit Zabuza. Sakura finally got Tazuna to move, and they barely moved out of the way in time. Zabuza went through a tree before hitting a thick oak and cratering it. While he was stunned Tenten threw several dozen kunai and shuriken with wires attached and embedded them in trees so that he couldn't get out. Before he broke out of his bonds Anko dropped a special smoke bomb. The smoke exploded purple and Zabuza slumped into unconsciousness.

"Anko-sensei!" Naruto waved his hand and pointed to Haku with his eyebrow raised.

"Tie him up on the tree next to Zabuza. I'm going to have a talk with these two. You guys go on ahead. Tazuna you said your house is a couple miles from here right?"

The bridge builder nodded.

"Alright, you head there. Tenten is in charge until I catch up. If you encounter anymore missing-nin, fight a delaying action and flare your chakra. I'll find you. Alright, move out."

Naruto finished binding Haku to a tree, and took point heading for Tazuna's home. Tenten was behind him absently playing with her kunai holster's cover, her eyes shifting from left to right every couple seconds. Tazuna followed the interim squad leader with Sakura being the last in the line looking over her shoulder once in a while.

Anko gave Haku an anti-venom for the snake which had bitten him. Then the tokujo sat on a branch and picked her teeth with a senbon while she waited for the two missing-nin to awaken.

* * *

_Tazuna's Home_

"Tsunami! I'm back!" Tazuna yelled as he came in the door. Tenten and Sakura followed him through, but there was no sign of Naruto. Said blonde was outside setting traps for any unwanted visitors.

"Father!" Tsunami hugged Tazuna tightly, and then turned to Sakura and Tenten. The two kunoichi were standing on either side of the door, waiting patiently to be acknowledged.

"These are a couple of the ninja from Konoha. I can honestly say it was worth the extra time it took for me to get back here. This team is made up of pros."

Tsunami's eyes widened.

"Only two of them? And children?"

"There are two more hanging around. One of them is setting traps outside, and their squad leader had some business."

Tenten took the second half of the question.

"Tsunami-san trust me when I say we aren't your run of the mill teenagers."

Tsunami smiled and nodded.

"From your clothing I should think that is obvious. What are your names?"

"I'm Tenten. This is Sakura Haruno, Team Seven's medic…in training. The blonde outside is Naruto Uzumaki, and our squad leader is named Anko Mitarashi."

Just as Tenten finished Naruto walked in.

"Alright, kunai traps are rigged and the paper bombs are set to blow based on pressure."

The ninja was spinning a kunai on his finger.

Tenten nodded.

Tsunami took on a worried expression.

"Won't your squad leader get caught in them?"

At this Sakura, Naruto, and Tenten laughed out loud. Seeing Tsunami's confused expression Naruto clarified.

"Don't worry; Anko-sensei is one of the best, if not the best, kunoichi in Konoha. I've never gotten her with one of my traps, and mine are something of a popular topic in the shinobi ranks."

Tenten snickered and Sakura deadpanned. Yeah, Naruto's traps were a topic of discussion amongst those who'd chased him when he was younger, though paint, tar, and feathers are much less lethal than kunai, explosives, and tiger traps. In the midst of their laughter Sakura felt a pair of eyes boring into her. When she looked she saw a young boy in green overalls staring at the ninja with hate-filled eyes. When she opened her mouth to talk, the child disappeared upstairs. Sakura turned and apparently Tenten and Naruto had noticed him as well, but in by mutual consensus they decided to ignore it for the time being.

"Have you eaten yet today?" Tsunami brought Sakura's attention back. Sakura was about to reply with a "what?", but Tenten saved her from being embarrassed by her ignoring of Tsunami by answering.

"No we haven't, but our squad has rations. It's up to Anko-sensei whether or not we use them. Knowing Naru-kun here we'll have to use them whether we want to or not."

Scandalized, Naruto was about to retort, but Tsunami interrupted.

"It's no trouble. We have a pair of spare rooms upstairs."

Tenten nodded.

"Thank you. Our sensei should be along anytime now. Sakura?"

Sakura turned to Tenten.

"Go up on the roof and keep an eye out would ya?"

The pinkette nodded and walked outside, leaving her bag with Naruto. Thanking Tsunami again Tenten and Naruto walked upstairs to drop off their bags.

There was a shout from downstairs and Tenten and Naruto dropped their bags before rocketing back downstairs with kunai drawn. Tenten jumped and landed on the wall while Naruto stood on the banister and used chakra to stop himself from sliding. Zabuza Momochi was standing in the living room with his hands in the air. The young guy, Haku, was looking around wide eyes.

"Put it away!"

Tenten and Naruto turned to Anko who was walking in the front door in front of Sakura.

"Anko-sensei! The guy is a missing-nin!" Naruto deadpanned while he kept his kunai pointed at Zabuza. Tenten nodded in agreement with Naruto.

"I said put'em down, brats." Anko's voice took on a tone of authority. Naruto and Tenten put away their kunai and got off the walls. They came down to the floor, but put themselves between Tazuna's family and Zabuza.

"So what's this about sensei?"

Anko took on a sly grin.

"Well…Team Anko, meet the newest members of the Tazuna Protection Agency!" Anko jerked her thumb towards Zabuza and Haku. Tenten, Naruto, and Sakura just gaped.

* * *

**If you review, you get Dauntless Cake. -Read Divergent if you don't get it.**

**So, what'd you guys think? I tried to do a fight scene where it would show that Team Anko is a fresh squad of noob genin. **

**Until next time, this is Microzombie, still thinking on how he should sign off.**


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